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Four Portraits 



OF THE 



LORD JESUS CHRIST 



Some Suggestions for 

Young Christians beginning to study 

the Gospels 



By GEORGE SOLTAU 



CHARLES C. COOK 

150 Nassau Street New York, N. Y 



spies ifiecaveti 
NOV 3 §^)5 

- » 6t 









Copyright, 1905, 

BY 

Charles C. Cook. 



FOREWORD 



BY C. I. SCOFIELD, D.D. 

TTAVING had the privilege of reading the advance 
sheets of "Four Portraits of the Lord Jesus 
Christ," by Rev. George Soltau, it gives me pleasure to 
commend it unreservedly. Of the making of "Lives of 
Christ," there is no end; but they all have the grave 
defect of incompleteness. The materials for a life of 
Christ do not exist. Four men, inspired by the Holy 
Spirit, wrote four books, known as the Gospels, in which 
they presented the one Personality in His four great char- 
acters; but it was no part of their purpose to write a 
narrative biography. It is not possible to produce such a 
biography from the fragmentary accounts which they give 
of His words and works. The harmonists are in hopeless 
disagreement. 

But the harmonized Lives of Christ not only fail of 
necessity to tell the great story — they serve but to confuse 
the divine intent in the four Gospels. They give a blur, 
and not a portrait. They have the effect of a composite 
photograph. 

There is, therefore, need for this book. Helped by its 
suggestions, the student of the four Gospels will be brought 
into a clear vision of the Christ in the four ways in which 
He stands related to God and man; and through which 
He works out, in ordered beauty and perfectness, the 
divine purpose. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER. PAGE. 

I. Introductory. Survey of the Four Portraits.. I 

II. St. Matthew: "The King." Divisions, Key- 
word, Scope 17 

III. St. Matthew : The King's Five Proclama- 

tions 35 

IV. St. Matthew : The Parables — Photographic 

and Prophetic 6j 

V. St. Mark: "The Servant." His Character, 

Conduct, Treatment Received 84 

VI. St. Mark: The Servant at Work 99 

VII. St. Luke: "The Man." His Prayerfulness, 

Compassion, Humanity 126 

VIII. St. Luke: A Prophet; Teaching of God, of 

Sin, and of Prayer 153 

IX. St. John : "The Son of God." Keywords, Mes- 

siahship 176 

X. St. John : The Signs 197 

XL St. John: The Sent One, the Lamb of God.. 207 

XII. The Closing Week. The Crucifixion; the Su- 
perscription 216 

XIII. The Resurrection and Ascension 231 

Appendix. What is the True Explanation of the 

Death of Christ 255 



MANY NAMES ARE DEAR. 

Many names are dear, but His is dearer; 

How it grows more dear as life goes on! 
Many friends are near, but He is nearer, 

Always what we want and all our own. 

Jesus, Jesus, let us ever say it 

Softly to ourselves as some sweet spell; 

Jesus, Jesus, troubled spirit, lay it 

On thy heart and it will make thee well. 

In the hour of gloom it shines before us, 
Like that welcome star that gilds the morn; 

Vanished hope and joy it will restore us, 
Till their sudden rays our soul adorn. 

Jesus! Jesus! in the home of glory, 

Still that lovely name shall tune our lays, 

Jesus! Jesus! all the wondrous story 
Of His love shall fill eternal days. 

P. Skene. 



Four Portraits of the 
lord Jesus Christ 



i 



Chapter I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 
T has pleased God to give us, in His Word, four 
narratives of the earthly life of His Son the 
Lord Jesus, as contained in the four Gospels. These 
four portraits are drawn by four different men, who 
present them to us from four different standpoints of 
vision. It has long been a practice for Bible students 
to attempt to draw up a harmony of the four 
Gospels. While this is, no doubt, very interesting, 
yet is it not obvious that the object of the Holy 
Spirit, in giving us four such distinct narratives, is 
to fix attention on the individual features presented 
by each writer, rather than to enable us to draw up 
a consecutive history of the words and works of the 
Son of God? There will be considerable profit and 
blessing resulting from a study of these four separ- 
ately, seeking to discover what may be the distinctive 
features in each case, and what may be the lessons 
the spirit of God would have us learn from them. In 
handling this subject, one must necessarily go over 
much ground that is familiar to m^ny. To almost 



2 Four Portraits. 

all, it will be known that St. Matthew represents the 
Lord as the King; St. Mark as the Servant of God; 
St. Luke as the Son of Man; while St. John pre- 
sents Him as the Son of God. 

The four faces of the Cherubim seem to have a di- 
rect reference to this fact, in that they correspond 
with these four features, thus : The Lion is the sym- 
bol of St. Matthew's Gospel, that animal being the 
king of beasts ; the Ox represents the servant of St. 
Mark's Gospel ; the Man that of St. Luke ; while the 
Eagle, for its keen vision and swift flight, represents 
St. John's portrait of the Lord. 

His Headship may next be glanced at in its 
four connections. 

In St. Matthew's Gospel, it is to be over the Jewish 
race ; in St. Mark's, over the Church, to be composed 
of those whom He has touched and delivered by His 
healing, saving power ; in St. Luke's, it is to be over 
the whole human race, for He is the Son of Man 
over all men ; while St. John shews Him to be "Head 
over all things." He is to hold the sceptre of univer- 
sal empire. 

Four prophecies are found in the Old Testament, 
in each of which the Lord is described as The 
Branch. It is interesting to note how these four 
have an apparent connection with the features of the 
four Gospels, now under consideration. In Jer, 



Four Portraits. 3 

xxiii. 5, we read, "Behold the days come, saith the 
Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous 
Branch, and He shall reign as King, and deal wise- 
ly, and shall execute judgment and justice in the 
land." A similar passage is found in Jer. xxxiii. 15, 
"In these days and at that time will I cause a Branch 
of Righteousness to grow up unto David: and He 
shall execute Judgment and righteousness in the 
land" This prophecy had a partial fulfilment as re- 
corded by St. Matthew, but awaits FUL-filment. 

Then in Zech. iii. 8, we find the words, "Behold, 
I will bring forth My servant the Branch." This 
fits over St. Mark's portrait of the patient, diligent 
Servant of God. 

In Zech. vi. 12, again, "Behold the Man whose 
name is the Branch, and He shall grow up out of 
His place" This prophecy is in accordance with 
what St. Luke portrays in his Gospel — the wonder- 
ful man amongst men, growing up from infancy, 
and moving amongst men. 

Lastly, in Isaiah iv. 2 : "In that day, shall the 
Branch of Jehovah be beautiful and glorious, and 
the fruit of the land shall be excellent and comely for 
them that are escaped of Israel" The glorious Son 
of God of St. John's Gospel shall return yet, and 
reveal Himself as the Son of God from heaven, in 
the eyes of His ancient people, who, at His first 
coming, rejected Him and refused to own Him. 



4 Four Portraits. 

In the two portraits which present Him as spe- 
cially identified with the human race, there are two 
genealogies given. St. Matthew, writing for Jews, 
gives His descent from Abraham and David. These 
are the two most important names to a Jewish mind, 
If the eye shall catch sight of these two names at the 
very beginning of the narrative, may not the Jewish 
reader be induced to pursue his reading of the story 
of such a descendant? Then St. Luke gives the 
genealogy back to Adam, shewing how the Saviour 
belongs to all the race, and not exclusively to one 
nation. 

The Servant needs no genealogy, for He is known 
by the character and quality of His work, and the 
Gospel of St. Mark opens with the voice from 
heaven, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well 
pleased." This is God's commendation of the Serv- 
ant to all who shall need Him to serve them, in His 
infinite grace. 

St. John seems to see Him coming out from the 
very bosom of the Father, and introduces Him as 
being "in the beginning with God' 3 and says He 
"was God! 3 He comes from eternity, suddenly ap- 
pearing upon the sphere of human existence, "the 
Word made -flesh/ 3 and after the life lived and the 
ministry wrought, as St. John records it, He re- 
turns as suddenly back to that place of eternal holi- 



Four Portraits. 5 

ness and light, the bosom of the Father. Nothing 
is said of Bethlehem or Nazareth, or Jerusalem or 
of the Mount of Olives. He has come as God — He 
has gone as God. He is the Son of God equal with 
the Father, the Word who was from the beginning, 
who is so still, and who ever will be. 

The Portrait as Drawn by St. Matthew 
is, as we have said, specially for his own 
nation. He shews at the very outset that 
He is the rightful claimant to the throne of 
David, by proving the direct descent of 
Jesus of Nazareth from David. That throne re- 
mains unclaimed from that day to the present, and 
will never be claimed by any but Jesus, because He 
alone can prove His lawful rights to succeed. No 
other Jew has ever since been able to produce his 
genealogy. There had been no claimant for 600 
years before; there has been none for 1900 years 
since. Notice the four women mentioned, in that 
first chapter, as identified with the ancestry of 
Christ: Thamar — whose name is associated with 
gross sin ; Rahab — a Gentile, a heathen, and a harlot ; 
Ruth — a Moabitess, a heathen, and therefore one 
who had no right in the congregation of Israel ; and 
the wife of Uriah, an adulteress. Sin, sorrow and 
shame are all here interwoven into this story; be- 
cause the Son of God came to bear away our sin 
and sorrow, and to be truly the Son of man. "Verily, 



6 Four Portraits. 

not of angels doth He take hold; but He taketh 
hold of the seed of Abraham" (Heb. ii. 16). "It is 
evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah" (Heb. 
vii. 14). He is the Root and Offspring of David; 
He is the Rod of the stem of Jesse ; and the Branch 
out of his roots (Isa. xi. 1). He is the Root out of 
the dry ground (Isa. liii. 2). In the Old Testament, 
this was prophecy; in the Gospel of Matthew, it is 
history. It is never lost sight of that Jesus of Nazar- 
eth is the King of the Jews. By many, it is sup- 
posed that this title is extinct, but it is not. Rev. 
v. 5 proves this, where He is called the Lion of the 
tribe of Judah. On the throne, as seen by the 
apostle, long after His ascension, His position and 
title are acknowledged in heaven, and in virtue of 
that title, He steps forward to take the book and to 
open the seals — the title-deeds to His lawful pos- 
session of earth. For further confirmation of this 
truth in this Gospel, the various names by which He 
is called in the earlier chapters may be collated, and 
considered in this connection. 

A King must govern, must be able to deliver His 
kingdom from its enemies, must make and enforce 
laws, must demand and receive obedience, other- 
wise He cannot reign as King. How, then, shall He 
be treated? Shall He be received and acclaimed? 
shall He be enthroned? shall He be obeyed? shall 
His control be submitted to? These are the ques- 



Four Portraits, 7 

tions which this Gospel practically asks and answers, 
revealing His undoubted claims to the place that 
was declared to be His, giving His utterances as 
King, and then describing how He was treated by 
His own nation, how He came unto His own but 
His own received Him not. The Gospel, however, 
closes with His own w r ords as to His return, as 
King, to the very nation that would not have Him, 
and how His coming would be for their salvation, 
when He should come with all the holy angels. In 
the meantime, He bade His disciples remember that 
Me had all power both in heaven and on earth. The 
opening question of the Gospel is in ii. 2 : "Where is 
He that is born King of the Jews?" and the closing 
statement from His own lips, as He ascends, with 
the marks of the rejection by His own nation in 
His person, are, "All power is given unto Me in 
heaven and on earth" (xxviii. 18). 

Do we now call Him our King? Ii so, are we 
careful to find out His commandments, in order that 
we may obey them ? It is not enough to say, "Make 
Jesus King!" It must be done literally by loyal 
obedience, so that others may see^that we are under 
another monarchy than that of this world. 

The Portrait as Drawn by St. Mark 

is for the Romans, who were the governing people 
at that time. He so weaves his narrative as to divest 



8 Four Portraits. 

it of special Jewish features, explaining terms that 
might not be usually understood, and presenting this 
One, not as a king, but as the Servant of God, One 
to serve men of all classes, who are in need and 
trouble. He seems to say to all his readers, "Look 
at this One working for you, living for you, suffer- 
ing for you, dying for you, rising for you. Greater 
is He than any god you ever worshipped or heard 
of, coming in close touch with all the necessities 
of the multitudes, with the utmost sympathy and 
tenderness. He appears as the true Priest amongst 
men, dealing with the great question ot SIN, able 
to understand sinners, their guilt, their shame, their 
weakness. Engage Him, submit to Him, work with 
Him, work for Him, confide in Him. God sends 
Him to do for you what you cannot do for your- 
self." 

Roman thought was accustomed to the idea of 
power, not service, as the symbol of true greatness. 
God will teach the true fact of greatness in the life 
of lowly service and ministry. 

Notice the first miracle that St. Mark records. It 
is the casting out of an unclean spirit in a synagogue. 
This is the great power of Satan, which no one can 
resist of himself. Jesus comes to save, to work the 
work of God in deliverances, and that in most un- 
likely ways and in most unlikely places. The chief 
question will be, Is He competent ? can He do what 



Four Portraits. 9 

I need? He will require such patience, such for- 
bearance, such sympathy, such strength, such knowl- 
edge ! Then hear His character from God : "My be- 
loved Son, in Whom I am well pleased." Long ago, 
He was God's Master-workman. "When He estab- 
lished the heavens I was there then I was 

by Him as a master-workman. I was daily His de- 
light, rejoicing always before Him .... There- 
fore, hearken unto Me, My sons'' (Prov. viii. 27-30). 
The opening question in the Gospel is that of i. 2J, 
"What is this? a new teaching! With authority, 
He commandeth even the unclean spirits, and they 
obey Him" It had never been so seen before. Life- 
less, powerless synagogue services, conducted with 
due formality! But here was a Teaching that ac- 
complished something: it disclosed the unsuspected 
power and presence of the enemy, and then dislodged 
him. Here was service, here was work that touched 
need, and met it. But how was He spoken of? In 
vi. 3 is another question, "Is not this the carpenter, 
the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, 
and Judas, and Simon, and are not His sisters here 
with us?" That is all that many thought of Him and 
said of Him, and so refused to let Him work the 
works of God for them and in them. The closing 
statement in xvi. 17 — "The Lord also working with 
them" — harmonizes with the opening thought. 
Though risen and glorified, yet He is still the 



io Four Portraits. 

Worker, the Servant of Jehovah, to save, succour, 
and help the needy. He is the same now as when 
here on earth yet how different. Though His work 
on earth is finished, for xvi. 19 tells us "He sat 
down on the right hand of God," yet His unfinished 
work of serving continues, through the Holy Spirit 
sent down from heaven, while in heaven He ever 
lives to make intercession for us. 

The Portrait as Drawn by St. Luke 

is for the Greek-speaking peoples. Here we see 
Him as the Man, entering the world as you and 
I did : growing up in it, w r orking for His daily 
bread, shewing the intensely human side of His 
character ; tenderness, compassion, readiness to 
help, fearlessness, courage, sternness against sin, 
but such tenderness to those who were the victims 
of sin. He was always talking so much of God, and 
of the love of God, that they all wondered at the 
gracious words that proceeded out of His mouth. 
He is a man! therefore confide in Him, trust Him, 
make Him your friend ; let Him eat and drink with 
you; take Him into your house, into your councils, 
into everything. He is perfectly human, as well as 
Divine. 

He is a Prophet ! He bears a message from God ; 
listen to Him. Such a man, as a prophet, must be 



Four Portraits, II 

perfectly fearless, very attractive and interesting, 
and must be able to come in touch with every-day, 
work-a-day life. He must be able to adapt Himself 
easily and equally to every class of society, with the 
utmost grace of manner, ease and skill. He must 
not be "condescending" to those who may think 
themselves socially beneath Him, neither must He 
be seeking the patronage of those who may think 
themselves above Him. He must be quite in touch 
with all human surroundings. Hence, this portrait 
will be found to be exquisitely beautiful from the 
human side of things. 

The story opens with certain family portraits ; His 
mother, her cousin Elizabeth and her husband 
Zacharias, the aged Priest in the Temple. Then we 
find old Simeon and the aged prophetess Anna, and 
His own cousin John the Baptist. On almost the 
first page, you have an inn, sheep, shepherds, and 
angels, too. Heaven and earth mingling because 
some one from heaven has arrived on earth in a 
most interesting and human way. The Boy — so 
obedient at home, the Learner, the Questioner, in- 
telligent, earnest! What interesting questions He 
asked! what a charming boy to talk with! It is 
Jesus. 

A Prophet is He ? He must know God intimately. 
He must know man intimately. He must put into 



12 Four Portraits. 

human language the thoughts of God, as far as they 
can be reduced to language. He must be quite fear- 
less on three points : 

First. In describing sin and its consequences. 
We must know the worst. 

Second. In describing God's righteous dealing 
with sin. There must be no uncertainty here. 

Third. In describing God's dealing with a 
sinner. 

(Here we must distinguish between Sin and the 
Sinner. Sin must meet with holy,, righteous wrath 
and indignation. God would de-tach sin, from the 
sinner, in order thus to deal with it. This is the 
offer of the Gospel. Then God would at-tach that 
sinner to Himself, and make him an heir of glory, 
lavishing on him all His eternal love and grace. If 
the sinner refuses the treatment offered, God has 
no alternative but to deal with the sin and sinner 
together). 

The Gospel is full of narratives, not found else- 
where, that illustrate all these points, and also shew 
His exceeding kindness, sympathy, and love for all 
around. The story opens with song, continues with 
song, and closes with song. By contrast. St. Mat- 
thew opens with the wail of the stricken, bereaved 
mothers, and closes with Woe, woe, woe! There 
is no song in that Gospel. How could there be? It 



Four Portraits. 13 

is the story of sorrow and sin in the rejection of 
the King. St. Luke gives the story of the Saviour 
and His salvation. 

The opening question is in ii. 49 : "Wist ye not 
that I must be about My Fathers business?" and the 
book is full of how He went about doing it. Then 
the closing words are in xxiv. 51 : "While He blessed 
them." He ended with His Father's business as He 
had begun, and He is still occupied in the same way. 

The Portrait as Drawn by St. John. 

This Apostle gathers up all the features of the 
other three, namely, that Jesus is Prophet, Priest 
and King, and combining them all, gives the addi- 
tional features of the Deity and Divinity of the 
Lord. It is a Full-length Portrait. 

Is He a King? Then Nathaniel's utterance con- 
firms it: "Thou art the King of Israel" (i. 49), and 
His own utterance in xviii. 37, "To this end zcas I 
born." 

Is He a Servant? He walked to Samaria to serve 
a poor, unhappy, sinful woman. He walked to Beth- 
esda to look for a helpless man and give him 
strength. He laid aside His garments, took a towel 
and girded Himself, and washed the disciples' feet. 
It is the lowliest act of service as a man amongst 
men. 



14 Four Portraits. 

Is He a Man? He was wearied with His journey. 
He was thirsty, and asked for water. He needed 
food. He loved. He groaned. He wept. And is 
that man a Prophet? Such utterances concerning 
God and sin, as recorded by St. John, are found 
in no other writing. 

But what more does this apostle tell us? That 
He dwelt in the bosom of the Father — (at Nazareth, 
say Matthew and Luke). That He was sent by the 
Father, and came from the bosom of the Father — 
(that he was born in a manger and fled to Egypt, 
say the others). That the Will of God was behind 
all He did and said on every occasion — (that He 
was full of compassion, and pity, and grace, say 
the others). That the World was the range of His 
vision — "God so loved the world/' "He came into 
the world/ 7 "To bear the sin of the world/' "The 
world could not contain the books that should be 
written" — (Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Perea, Tyre, 
Sidon, say the others). 

The opening question of this Gospel is in i. 38, 
"Master, where dwellest Thou?" and near the close 
amongst the last words are these in xv. 4: "Abide 
in ME, and I IN YOU." It is the new abiding 
place, where any one may meet Him who enquires 
of Him. 

And what are the impressions that St. John 
makes? "This is my Lord Jesus Christ. I have 



Four Portraits. 15 

leaned on His bosom. I have seen Him. I wish all 
my friends knew Him! I wish my country knew 
Him ! I wish the World knew Him ! 

Not the World for Christ, but Christ for 
the World. 



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Chapter II. 

ST. MATTHEW: THE KING. 

The Divisions, Keywords, Scope. 

Behold your king. — John xix. 14. 

The Author. 

/ "~|P V HE writer of this Gospel was a Galilean, 
-*• Matthew by name, having also a Jewish 
name, Levi. The corresponding Latin name would 
be Theodore, meaning Gift of God. He was a busi- 
ness man, accustomed to the use of the pen, but en- 
gaged in a business hated by his countrymen, that 
of tax-collector for the Roman Government, and 
therefore estranged from his nation, .and likely to 
wield no influence, amongst them, for good. His call 
to follow the Lord is briefly recorded by himself in 
chapter ix. 9. It must be inferred that he had had 
some previous knowledge of the Lord, and that this 
interview was by no means the first. One wonders 
whether he might not have been among the tax-gath- 
erers who attended John the Baptist's mission (Luke 
iii. 12), and there received his first impressions. He 
was evidently a man of decision, for he acted imme- 
diately, rose up, left all, and followed Jesus. So 
thorough was the change from the habits of the old 

*7 



18 St. Matthew: The King. 

life to the new, that he made a great feast for all his 
old business associates, which St. Luke describes as 
for a great company of tax-gatherers, sinners, and 
others. It was a splendid start, a clean cut with all 
the past, and a definite act of committal to the new 
leader and the new associations. If the call was his 
conversion, the feast was his consecration. The 
other fact about him is that he became one of the 
Apostles; x. 3 is his own record, and he mentions 
that he had been a tax-gatherer, not being ashamed 
to refer to "the hole of the pit from whence he had 
been digged." The only other thing we know about 
him personally is that he wrote this Gospel, which 
has been probably more blessed to Jewish readers 
than any other section of the New Testament. The 
main argument in his writing is that all that has 
happened to Jesus of Nazareth has been fulfilment 
of Scripture, and, therefore, should appeal pre-emi- 
nently to the nation, "whose are the oracles of 
God," convincing them that Jesus is Messiah. 
Nothing that occurred was accidental. "For ever, 
O Lord } Thy word is settled in heaven" (Psa. cxix. 
89). The Jews were well versed in their Scriptures 
They professed to base all their hopes upon them, 
and they claimed to understand them. Hence, the 
blindness, both of heart and will, in rejecting Him 
who so evidently, before their eyes, was daily ac- 
complishing Scripture. 



St. Matthew: The King. 19 

It will well repay the time and trouble expended 
to study out the interweaving of Old Testament 
Scripture in the fabric of this book. It is the con- 
necting link between the old and new dispensations, 
and, therefore, stands first in the canon of the New 
Testament. Similarly, the first epistle, that to the 
Romans, is one which, setting forth clearly God's 
way of saving a sinner, is found to be composed of 
a large amount of Old Testament Scripture. This 
is an important fact because the faith of many in 
these Scriptures is threatened and undermined, and 
it is well to see the value attached to them by the 
Holy Spirit. The life of our Lord upon earth, His 
death, resurrection, and ascension, together with the 
great fundamental doctrines of the gospel, have their 
origins and roots in prediction. If, therefore, the 
prediction be believed to be inaccurate and unin- 
spired, that which is constructed from it will be mis- 
trusted also. Sweep away the foundations, and the 
whole fabric must disappear. 

Characteristic Phrases. 

The following phrases are characteristic of St. 
Matthew: "That it might be fulfilled/' "It is 
written/' "It hath been said to them of old time/' 
"Have ye never read?" Taking the first of these, 
it will be found to occur fourteen times, and in con- 



20 St. Matthew: The King. 

nection with the following books: Psalms, Isaiah. 
Jeremiah, Hosea, and Zechariah. "It is written/' 
will be found nine times, and "It hath been said to 
them of old time/ 3 six times. Putting the two 
phrases together, being so similar in thought, we 
shall find that the following books are referred to: 
Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Isaiah, 
Micah, Zechariah, Malachi. One of these references 
is that made by the devil in the "Temptation," to the 
91st Psalm. "Have ye never read?" is used by the 
Lord Himself six times in his controversies with 
the Pharisees, who claimed to be the custodians and 
expositors of Scripture. It was, therefore, his way 
of rebuking their ignorance of what they professed 
to be so well versed in. He referred them to Gene- 
sis, Exodus, Numbers, Samuel, Psalms, and Isaiah. 
In addition to the foregoing, there will be found 
six distinct quotations from Exodus, Job, Psalms, 
Isaiah, and Hosea, and between forty and fifty 
allusions to the foregoing books, and also to Kings, 
Chronicles, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Jonah. In all, it 
will be found that nineteen books of the Old Testa- 
ment are required for the structure of St. Matthew's 
Gospel — the Pentateuch, three historical, two 
poetical, and nine prophetical — and that the Holy 
Spirit has put His hand upon Scripture from Genesis 
to Malachi, to obtain the necessary material for this 
writing. This fact should strengthen faith and re- 



St Matthew: The King. 21 

new confidence in the verity and accuracy of the Old 
Testament Scriptures. 

Fifteen characters are referred to in this book, 
namely : Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, 
David, Solomon, Queen of Sheba, Elijah, Isaiah, 
Jeremiah, Daniel, Jonah, and Zacharias. This, of 
course, does not include the names in the genealogy 
in the first chapter. 

The Divisions. 

For the purpose of study, the book may be divided 
as follows: 

(a) Introduction : Genealogy, Birth, Forerun- 

ner (i-iii. 12). 

(b) Ministry in Galilee, prefaced by the Bap- 

tism (iii. 13-xvi. 20). 

( c) Crucifixion prepared for and accomplished, 

prefaced by Transfiguration (xvi. 21- 
xxviii). 
Another suggested definition is : 

(a) Preparation (i-iv. 16). 

(b) Proclamation (iv. 17-xvi. 20). 

(c) Propitiation (xvi. 21-xxviii). 

The six great facts are Birth, Baptism, Trans- 
figuration, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension. 
These are the "crises of the Christ/' 



22 St. Matthew: The King. 

The Topic. 

The great topic of the book is the Arrival amongst, 
Proclamation to, Rejection of the King, by the nation 
to whom He came, and to whom He belonged. Bear 
in mind how strictly Jewish are the surroundings 
of this narrative, and, therefore, how Jewish will 
be the style of the Lord's discourses, five of which 
are given. The application of much of what the 
Lord said to our present time and state is another 
line of study equally full of profit. We must further 
remember that though He was rejected, yet in no 
way have His claims abated, or the purposes of God 
been frustrated. He must return, if only to take the 
throne of David and fulfil the Scriptures, and the 
nation to whom He belongs must receive and ac- 
claim Him here on earth, as foretold. There is a 
spiritual kingdom ; there is also a visible and actual 
kingdom. The same principles of righteousness will 
be found in both, but the one does not do away with 
the other. "Now we see not yet all things put under 
Him/' but we believers see Him spiritually as our 
Lord and King. 

The topic, then, being the King, we shall find the 
word "king" applied to the Lord Jesus fourteen 
times. Then the word "kingdom' 3 will be found 
seventeen times ; the phrase, "kingdom of heaven," 
thirty-two times, and the phrase, "kingdom of God/ 9 



St Matthew: The King. 23 

five times. In all, these words are found sixty- 
eight times in the twenty-eight chapters. The word 
of a king is authoritative. "I say unto you" is His 
oft-repeated phrase, and occurs fifty-four times in 
the narrative. These should be looked out and 
underlined. How grating must this phrase have 
sounded in the ears of His enemies, who disputed 
His rights and claims to the Messiahship, as He put 
His own utterances alongside those of the Holy 
Spirit in olden time, and claimed for them the same 
authority and position as for the words of God from 
Mount Sinai. This would be nothing less than 
blasphemy from any human lips, and it is not sur- 
prising that He was accused of such blasphemy. 

Chapter Headings, Shewing the Scope. 

In order to see clearly the scope of the book, 
and to be able to retain in the memory the main 
outline, it is found of the greatest service to select a 
title for each chapter, commit it to memory, and 
also have it written in over each chapter. In this 
way, the contents of the chapter can be associated 
with the title given, and the mind is helped in further 
meditation. We shall select a title for each chapter, 
illustrating the fact that it is the portrait of the King 
we are considering. 

Chap. i. Pedigree of the King. This gives 



24 St. Matthew: The King. 

the line of succession from David and Abraham, and 
proves His lineage. 

Chap. ii. Homage to the King. The wise men 
have arrived, guided by Scripture and by the star. 
The gifts are royal — gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 
Though finding Him in a stable, they are in no 
way disconcerted, but worship the infant Jesus by 
faith. The gift of gold was opportune, inasmuch as 
God had foreseen the speedy, rapid flight into Egypt, 
where Joseph would be unable to maintain his fam- 
ily as at Nazareth, and thus are all expenses met! 

Chap. iii. Heralding the King. The Forerun- 
ner appears and commences his six months' ministry 
of preparation, preaching, "Repent, for the kingdom 
of heaven is at hand" and fulfilling Old Testament 
predictions. 

Chap. iv. The King in Conflict. He has in- 
vaded the dominion of His great foe, in order to re- 
cover possession of it lawfully. At the very thresh- 
old, therefore, He will meet His foe alone in single 
combat, who will commence to try issues with Him. 

The "Temptation" shall be met by Him in the 
strength alone by which every disciple afterwards 
shall meet temptation. His only weapon shall be 
the Scriptures that are in the hands of His people. 
Filled with the Spirit, led by the Spirit, and with the 
Sword of the Spirit, He fights and conquers. Un- 



St. Matthew: The King. 25 

weakened by the conflict, He proceeds to the call of 
some of His disciples, and to the opening of His 
ministry among the people. 

Chaps, v., vi., vii. The Principles of the King- 
dom. These three chapters contain what is popular- 
ly known as The Sermon on the Mount. Careful 
reading will disclose that the words were .addressed 
to the disciples, as the inner circle of His followers, 
and not to the crowd that was allowed to gather and 
listen, and that they were meant for their special 
instruction and guidance. As He taught them, the 
crowds gathered up and listened to all He said. But 
He did not alter the subject of His discourse in order 
to adapt it to the crowd. The utterances remain as 
the private instructions given to the disciples con- 
cerning the principles and laws that would be put 
into force when the kingdom should be established, 
of which He was the predicted Head. Could the 
disciples then and there carry out those principles? 
Certainly not ; their conduct afterwards shewed how 
they could not and did not. The King was not en- 
throned, the Kingdom was not actually set up. He 
was being rejected all the time by the nation; there- 
fore, what He had come to enact and establish can- 
not be put into force until the nation shall accept 
Him as King. In the meantime, the Church of God 
is to study these wonderful words, and learn from 
them the principles of obedience to His rule, of 



26 5"/. Matthew: The King. 

righteousness on earth, and of the regulation of con- 
duct both toward God and man. 

Chaps, viii. and ix. Samples of the Power of 
the King. Here are grouped ten samples of what 
the King can do over the six great foes of mankind 
— Sickness, Sin, Satanic power, Death, Sorrow and 
Storms. Just as the three previous chapters collect 
the great utterances, so these two chapters collect 
these specimens of His power. The writer wants 
to impress on his Jewish readers that there has been 
every possible proof, both in His words and works, 
that this Xazarene was none other than the pre- 
dicted Messiah of their nation. 

Chap. x. Limited Proclamation of the King. 
The twelve are sent out with special instructions not 
to go to any but to the lost sheep of the house of 
Israel. The proclamation is limited to them, inas- 
much as this visit is preparatory to His own visit 
amongst them, to announce Himself as their Mes- 
siah. Through the nation would God make known 
to the world the great plan of salvation, therefore to 
the nation first the King comes, with His offers of 
righteous rule and delivering power. 

Chap. xi. The King's Forerunner in Prison. 
If the herald is in prison, then the outlook is dark 
for the King Himself. This was the fact evidently 
perceived by John the Baptist, hence the sending 



St. Matthew: The King. 2J 

the two disciples making enquiry, "Art thou He that 
should come?" Possibly he had not just then fully 
grasped that he must run on ahead of his Master, 
even unto, and into, death. He had proclaimed Him 
as the Lamb of God, and he knew that He would 
be the sin bearer ; he had also proclaimed Him as the 
one Who would baptize in the Holy Spirit and fire. 
But it appears that he had hardly grasped the appli- 
cation to himself personally as the forerunner pre- 
paring the way — all the way ; hence, those wonder- 
ful words sent him by the Lord, "Blessed is he who- 
soever shall not be offended in Me," meaning, Happy 
is the man who is not scandalized by the way I may 
see fit to treat him, but who trusts Me on through 
all dark circumstances, knowing I am the Son of 
God, and that all is right and well. What comfort 
to come to the heart of the distracted, suffering, 
faithful forerunner! 

Chap. xii. The King Officially Rejected. 
This is an important chapter, as marking a crisis in 
the history of the Lord. In verses 14 and 15, the 
first official council was held that determined upon 
His death. Up to that point, He had been preaching 
the "Kingdom of heaven is at hand" but now this 
must cease. Action is commenced against Him 
which will culminate in the national rejection and 
the cross, and He immediately changes His methods 
of teaching and work. He has been compared to 



28 St. Matthew: The King. 

Beelzebub, and dark satanic power is attributed to 
Him. Most wisely and graciously, He meets the op- 
position and anger, proving the impossibility of the 
statements made about Him, warning His foes and 
at the same time teaching His friends. But He must 
change His method in consequence, and therefore 
He withdraws, and recommences His teaching in 
parabolic form. 

Chap. xiii. The Kingdom in Mystery. Here 
begin the series of parables which describe the new 
phase of the kingdom of heaven consequent on the 
forthcoming national rejection of the King, and 
which give the outline of the future events in the 
spiritual realm, between the facts of the King re- 
jected, and the King accepted, at the Second Advent. 
(These will form a separate study.) 

Chap. xiv. The Compassion of the King. The 
feeding of the 5,000 is the central event in this 
chapter. 

Chap. xv. The King Recognized by a Gentile. 
After the conflict with the Pharisees, which has 
shewn up their ignorance of the meaning of Script- 
ure, the Lord is cheered by the Gentile suppliant whc 
saw further with the eye of faith than did these 
teachers of the law. 

Chap. xvi. The King denied by many, owned 
by a few. Here, for the first time, occurs the new 



St. Matthew: The King. 29 

word church, which was to mean so much after- 
wards. The kingdom rejected,, to be followed by a 
new association of believers, not forming a king- 
dom so much as being introduced into a hitherto un- 
revealed relationship to the Lord, higher and more 
glorious than that of being merely in the kingdom. 
The full facts of the Church were not revealed till 
later to the Apostle Paul, after the last offer had 
been made, through the Apostles, to the Jewish na- 
tion, of the kingdom, through the descent of the 
Holy Spirit, and rejected. 

Chap. xvii. The King in royal attire. That 
sign which had been demanded in unbelief by 
Pharisees, to prove that Jesus was Messiah, was 
granted to the three disciples in the Mount of Trans- 
figuration. Xote the reference to it of one spectator, 
in 2 Peter i. 

Chap, xviii. The King axd the little ones. 
Very unlike their ideas of the way to enter the king- 
dom was the teaching given to the disciples, followed 
by the discourse on forgiveness and the parable of 
the unforgiving servant. 

Chap. xix. Rewards for followixg the King. 
So utterly had all the hopes, in the hearts of the 
disciples, faded, with regard to the establishment of 
the visible kingdom predicted by David and Isaiah, 
that the Lord points out to them that there are higher 



30 St. Matthew: The King. 

and greater things to be obtained, as the reward of 
faith, than even earthly promotion and position. The 
young ruler was an illustration of the power of 
things temporal and visible over things unseen and 
spiritual. 

Chap. xx. Condition of greatness in the 
King's service. The difficult parable of the penny- 
a-day labourers is followed by the request, by the 
mother of James and John, for best seats in the 
kingdom. They have all failed to grasp the signifi- 
cance of events transpiring around them, and no 
wonder, seeing the whole of their outlook was being 
slowly destroyed, and the Master was more often 
talking of His approaching death than of any out- 
ward triumph. 

Chap. xxi. The King's brief hour of triumph. 
A sudden transient gleam of hope shot out of the 
increasing darkness in the fulfilment of the prophecy, 
"Behold, thy King cometh unto thee!" Now surely 
the tide of popular and official feeling will turn ! But 
Jesus knew otherwise, and hence the significance of 
the parable of the unfaithful husbandmen, which 
He gave, the next day, in the temple courts, warning 
the disciples of what they might expect to happen. 

Chap. xxii. The King cross-questioned. Al- 
ways a dangerous process for the questioners. He 
was the wisdom of God, and can bring to nought 



St. Matthew: 3 he King. 31 

the wisdom of the world. Again the controversy 
focussed round the Messiahship of Jesus in the 
closing question, asked this time by the Lord 
Himself. And no one was able to answer Hint a 
word, neither durst any man, from that day forth. 
ask Him any more questions. The whole position 
was insoluble to the multitudes and to the leaders 
of the nation. The mystery of the atonement was 
about ::■ icon: up in the foreground, which wiii be 
impenetrable iarkness :: the majority, ana. indeed, 
to almost every one. until after the iay :: Pentecost 

Chap, xxiii. The King's denunciations. He 
began with blessed, He ends with zcoe. Why- It 
is the inevitable consequence of the refusal :: the 
offered kingdom. Nothing :ut woe can result. Ana 
how awfully true has been this fact in the history 
of the nation all down the centuries. They have 
never reversed the verdict then given: hence the 
perpetual foiling :: these solemn woes. The Kino 
has power t: Mess, ana. equally, power to judge. 
He must be known in one of the two ways. Each 
one can chocse which way. 

Ihcc x::iv. 7 0:1 N:x:- _-. Paiacczo. Privately. 
He announces to iisciples the new hope and future 
purpose in the Second Advent. But at the same 
time, He faithfully sketches the history of the nation 
from the very day He was speaking, down to the 



32 St. Matthew: The King. 

great climax for which we are still waiting in holy 
expectation. 

Chap. xxv. The King as Bridegroom, Admin- 
istrator and Judge. These three great utterances 
conclude the record of the teaching of the Lord, and 
the final word is, "When the Son of Man shall come 
in His glory and all the holy angels zeifh Him/' At 
the commencement of the Gospel, it will be found 
that Satan suggested this very event in the Tempta- 
tion, trying to forestall the fulfilment of the 
prophecy, and so prevent the great triumph over 
himself and the powers of darkness. But what he 
then suggested and quoted Scripture in support of, 
will yet take place, but before a vaster audience, and 
for far greater purposes. 

Chap. xxvi. The King anointed, betrayed, 

FORSAKEN. 

Chap, xxvii. The King tried and condemned. 
Chap, xxviii. The King risen and ascended. 
The book begins with the arrival of the King in 
Bethlehem, according to prophecy, and concludes 
with the removal of the King from the land to which 
He came, according to prophecy, to await the pur- 
pose of God in His return, according to prophecy. 
In the meantime, we who know Him, trust Him, and 
confess Him, are to watch and wait for Him, being 
diligent, that we may be found blameless at His ap- 



St Matthew: ± : '~ : .-<ig. 33 

pearing. and ever remembering how His heart 
yearns for the nation for which He has died, and to 
which He is to come as the Lion of the Tribe of 
Tudah, the Messiah, and the glorious branch. 



Chapter III. 
ST. MATTHEW: THE KING. 

The King's Five Proclamations. 

THE Gospel is built round the five great pro- 
clamations that the writer has recorded. 
They are as follows : 

i. Chaps, v. vi. vii. The New Law. The 
King a Lawgiver. 

2. Chap. x. The New Mission. The King a 

Saviour. 

3. Chap. xiii. The New Kingdom. The King 

Veiled. 

4. Chaps, xvi. and xviii. The New Associa- 

tion. The King Present, Though Veiled. 

5. Chap, xxiii.-xxv. The New Hope. The 

King a Judge. 

1. The New Law. Chapters v. vi. vii. 

Putting ourselves back into the trend of the times 
when these words were spoken, let us imagine our- 
selves of the nation of Israel, full of expectation and 
anxiety, resulting from the fiery and stirring preach- 
ing of John the Baptist, who had been declaring, 
''Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the 
35 



36 St. Matthew: The Kings Proclamations. 

desert a highway for our God." "All were in ex- 
pectation," St. Luke says, and "pondering what these 
portentous announcements might mean." To the 
few more enlightened, they would undoubtedly con- 
vey the impression that the long-expected Messiah 
would shortly appear, and begin to work out the de- 
liverance of the nation from the Gentile yoke, and 
restore the kingdom as described by the Prophets 
and Psalmists. When, therefore, John the Baptist 
could announce, "He has come," all eyes were 
turned in the direction of the man of Nazareth, whom 
he pointed out as the Lamb of God, the One expected 
and predicted. What manner of man would He be ? 
Naturally, all would expect a great and glorious 
One, with displays of supernatural power, that 
would soon put to flight the Roman legions, and free 
the country from the foreign domination. Instead 
of this, they saw one who, without any external dis- 
play whatever, began a series of country visitations, 
preaching in a very unexpected manner, and con- 
tenting Himself with sundry works of mercy and 
kindness to the poor, diseased, afflicted, and outcast. 
He severely left alone all political and national ques- 
tions, and never shewed Himself amongst the ruling 
classes. How could such an One be the Messiah? 
Where were the signs ? Where were the appeals to 
the nation to rise and follow Him ? The whole thing 
was utterly opposed to all Jewish conceptions, and 



St. Matthew: The Kings Proclamations. 37 

apparently to all the prophecies concerning the Mes- 
siah. It was perplexing, disappointing. Yet there 
was the inner circle of disciples drawn chiefly from 
the working classes, who were strangely attracted 
to Him, who believed Him, and who were sure that 
it would work out all right, and that He would prove 
to be all that their prophets had foretold. With these 
conflicting ideas and emotions, let us take our places 
in the inner circle, and listen to the Messiah as He 
begins to instruct them in the affairs of His king- 
dom. He had been preaching, "Repent, for the 
kingdom of heaven is at hand !" He evidently means 
to do something. What will He say and do? He 
opened His mouth, and taught them, saying, "Bless- 
ed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of 
heaven." This was a little reassuring, for He was 
going to talk about the kingdom. Then there fol- 
lowed the remainder of the beatitudes, which con- 
tained some altogether unexpected words, such as 
persecute, speak falsely, mourn. This is not what 
they had expected, and is quite contrary to a suc- 
cessful campaign. So He began, and so He went on, 
saying nothing about the earthly kingdom and the 
throne, and the driving out of the Roman power. 

Before the kingdom can be established, it will be 
necessary to promulgate the laws that will be en- 
forced, and that will form the basis of the govern- 
ment; in fact, He must put forth the policy of the 



38 St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 

new regime, and it turns out that He will make no 
appeal whatever to the popular imagination, or feel- 
ing, or sentiment, but, on the contrary, will be some- 
what repellant rather than attractive. "My thoughts 
are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my 
ways, saith the Lord/' That was the secret that 
underlay this strange policy. 

The keyword of this policy is righteousness. 
The new words that are introduced, and that strike 
attention, are "Blessed," "Father." They are more 
family words than kingdom words, and they must 
have sounded most strange. What will be the sphere 
of this new law? The Jewish nation? No, that is 
too limited! The Christian Church? No, that also 
is too limited. It is the law of the kingdom of 
heaven, that is, of all that professes to be under the 
rule of the King. The Jewish nation was only a 
fragment of a nation. The Church is a collection 
of individuals out of all nations. The kingdom is to 
include all nations : so then the law will go on after 
the Church has gone into her heavenly sphere, and 
will be the rule of the nations and of all who profess 
to be under this King. It is, however, first offered 
to this nation of the Jews, and to a section of them 
the Lord is, for the first time, explaining what will be 
the manner of the King and kingdom they are ex- 
pecting. Will they like it? Will they accept it? 



St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 39 

On examination, it will be found that this revela- 
tion from the Lord is a combination of grace and 
law. One of the weakest features in much so-called 
Gospel preaching today, is the elimination of law 
from the testimony, as though God had never given 
any revelation of what He required of His creatures ; 
and, secondly, the elimination of law from the in- 
structions given to those who accept the Gospel of 
His grace and receive the great salvation. The 
truth is, that if you accept the grace of the King, 
you must perforce take service, and be under the 
will and laws of the King. The teaching of Christ 
as King does not nullify one word of the previous 
declarations of God made to the fathers ; it intensifies 
and expands them all. He said, "Think not I am 
come to destroy the law or prophets ; I am not come 
to destroy, but to fulfil" (v. 17.) This is 1 the key- 
note to the understanding of this proclamation of 
His policy. 

The Divisions. 

1. Chap. v. 3-16. Introductory. 

2. Chap. v. 17-vii. 12. "The Law and 

Prophets." 

3. Chap. vii. 1-27. Conclusion. Be decided—* 

no compromise. 
The introduction dispelled at once any ideas of 
preparation for a conflict. It was the out-breathing 



40 St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 

of gentleness, love, and blessing, and gave the 
disciples their first impressions as to what kind of 
persons they were to be : salt and light, preservative 
and illuminating. The second division will fall into 
four sub-divisions, as follows : 

(a) Chap. v. 17-48. Laws concerning the relation- 
ship of man to man, touching murder, adultery, per- 
jury, theft, retribution. 

(b) Chap. vi. 1- 16. Laws referring to man's 
relationship to God in things spiritual, such as 
prayer, almsgiving, fasting. 

(c) Chap. vi. 17-34. Laws referring to man's 
relationship to God in things temporal, such as food, 
clothing, money. 

(d) Chap. vii. 1-12. Laws concerning man's right 
attitude towards God and man. 

The whole section commences and terminates with 
an allusion to the law and prophets. "Think not I 
am come to destroy the law and prophets," and 
"This is the law and prophets. " The eyes of the 
nation were upon the fulfilment of the great utter- 
ances of the prophets respecting the restoration of 
the kingdom to its original splendour under David's 
greater Son. If Messiah has truly come, He will 
begin to carry out the plans for such fulfilment. 
Messiah had come, but His eyes were upon the ful- 
filment of the Law first, without which nothing what- 



St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 41 

ever in the prophets could be accomplished ; for the 
kingdom must be established in righteousness, and 
there lay whole centuries of unrighteousness behind, 
for which the law had righteous claims which must 
be met. These claims, the leaders were determined 
to ignore, if, indeed, they w T ere aware of their ex- 
istence. So, then, the eyes of the nation and of 
Messiah were looking two different ways. What 
was meant by "fulfilment of the law ?" Not merely 
living a righteous life, and being sinless, and, there- 
fore, law-abiding, but having thus lived, offering 
Himself as the Atonement for sin, to become the Sin- 
bearer, and Sin-sacrifice on behalf of the guilty na- 
tion, and to fulfil the claims of the law against the 
law-breakers. Did not the long line of animal sacri- 
fices suggest this? Had not John the Baptist an- 
nounced this? All God's dealings with the na- 
tion had been based on the recognition of His holi- 
ness and their obedience to His laws ; how, then, 
can the Messiah act otherwise but first see to the 
fulfilling of the law? His pronouncements in this 
fifth chapter prove how deeply He looked into 
things, and how He came not to deal with the 
results of sin as the Sinaitic law did, but with the 
roots of sin in the human heart. His work was to pre- 
vent sin beginning, not to prevent* sin fruiting. For 
this, something must be accomplished before the 
kingdom, on such principles, can be established; 



42 St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 

hence, His words, "I am come to fulfil the law." 
The old covenant had failed, and the promise was of 
the new covenant, in which God had said, "I will put 
My law in their hearts/' When this should be ac- 
complished, the regulations of the Sermon on the 
Mount could be carried out, but not before. He 
cannot unveil fully all the process then, but can only 
announce the principles of righteousness. Sin must 
be dealt with, guilt put away, and the new relation- 
ship entered into, hinted at by the introduction of 
the word "Father." Only, then, by the new % birth 
would this be possible. The Jews expected a king 
to commence his reign in one way ; Jesus announces 
that He must commence in another way, and because 
He would not yield to the nation, nor the nation to 
Him, they rejected Him, and condemned Him to 
death. Their action shewed the awful gulf between 
Himself and them; but God, through this very re- 
jection, accomplished the purpose of Atonement, and 
Jesus on the cross put away the sin of the nation in 
their treatment of Him, and made forgiveness and 
reconciliation possible on repentance. 

Now comes the oft-recurring question, Is it pos- 
sible for us to fulfil the laws of the Sermon on the 
Mount ? The principles of righteousness therein an- 
nounced apply to all who have accepted Christ's ful- 
filment of law in the atonement for their sin, and 



St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 43 

have put themselves under His rule. There must 
be a personal knowledge of the King ere there 
can be such obedience as these laws require. The 
admission to His kingdom must be by the way ap- 
pointed, namely, the New Birth. None others can 
enter or obey. Practically, the teaching of St. John 
iii. precedes that of St. Matthew v. 

The rejection of the kingdom and the King by 
those to whom it was offered has, therefore, post- 
poned the full and world-wide application of this 
proclamation, until the King shall return and be 
acknowledged and His fulfilment of the law in the 
atonement accepted as the basis of His rule and 
mercy. "They shall look on Him whom they have 
pierced," and then shall deliverance appear unto the 
oppressed and almost exterminated nation. 

2. The New Mission. Chapter x. 

Having thus privately taught the disciples the 
manner of the kingdom, the next thing was to send 
out the twelve to announce and proclaim it in all the 
towns and villages, "whither He Himself would 
com.e." They were sent out, authorized to preach 
exactly what the Lord Himself had preached, and 
to prove their authority by performing, in His name, 
the very same miracles as they had seen Him per- 
form at the commencement of His ministry. It was 



44 St- Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 

the first general proclamation of the kingdom. In 
chapter x. are found the instructions to them for 
this mission. With their ideas of how this kingdom 
was to be set up, how strange must have been the 
instructions given. The keyword of this proclama- 
tion is variance, the very reverse of what they were 
expecting. The new words are freely, persecute, 
confess, suffer. Not success, then, was promised, 
but opposition which would impinge specially on 
themselves. How strangely these words must have 
sounded. "Freely" is not a word pleasant to the 
Jewish mind ; it was the original gospel word of the 
Garden of Eden : "Thou mayest freely eat." "Perse- 
cute !" Was not the Master going to rule? "Con- 
fess!" Easy when there is no opposition, but diffi- 
cult when life is threatened. "Suffer !" How, today, 
that word needs to be remembered, in connection 
with the true Confession of Christ. 

The divisions of the chapter may be taken thus : 

(a) Verses 5-15, applying to the immediate send- 
ing forth of the twelve, and having no application 
to any later period. 

(b) Verses 16-23. This section had its accom- 
plishment after Pentecost, when they were brought 
before councils and judged for the sake of the truth 
they preached. The Lord's words intimated that 
the persecution would break out and scatter the 



St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 45 

work before they would have gone through the 
cities of Israel, and such proved the case. Here 
the thread of the narrative is broken, and the re- 
mainder probably awaits fulfilment in the future, 
just before the return of the King. 

(c) Verses 24-42. This section is of perpetual 
application, wherever the kingdom of heaven is 
preached and entered into. One member of a fam- 
ily coming under the new rules, finds himself, or 
herself, at variance with the rules of the household, 
and the peace of that family is broken. It always 
has been so; there is no help for it. Where Christ 
is accepted as Lord, His rules for holy living must 
come into force, and they are at enmity with the 
world. The Jewish mind only thought of earthly 
glory, victory, and the overthrow of enemies in con- 
nection with the kingdom. Here the Lord prepares 
disciples for opposition to His will, for successful 
persecution, for postponement, indefinitely, of the 
Messianic reign in glory, and bids them continue 
to confess Him at whatever cost of sufifering, prom- 
ising them a reward such as is not mentioned in the 
Old Testament prophecies. 

With such instructions as these, the twelve went 
out, greatly wondering, no doubt, what the outcome 
would be, but yet so strangely constrained by His 
love and power. It was a message of salvation they 



46 St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations, 

were to carry out, accompanied by proofs of the 
Divine authority of the Master. It was a message 
to individuals rather than to the nation. 

The next chapter, namely, xi., contains the refer- 
ence to John the forerunner in prison, sending the 
two disciples to enquire as to the Messiahship of 
Jesus of Nazareth. It is all in keeping with the ob- 
ject of Matthew's narrative to give the history of 
the rejected King. At the close of the chapter, will 
be found the woes pronounced on Chorazin, Beth- 
saida, Capernaum, for their special ^guilt in not re- 
ceiving the Messiah. In chapter xii., there are two 
miracles recorded : the curing of the withered hand 
in the synagogue, and the casting out of a demon 
from a blind and dumb man. The opposi- 
tion culminated round these two events in 
the first meeting of the council to decide 
on His death, and in the attributing His 
power for working miracles to Beelzebub. In His 
teaching, the Lord proves He is greater than the 
Sabbath, the cherished institution of the nation; 
greater than Jonah, the successful preacher to Nine- 
veh, who turned that heathen city to repentance; 
greater than Solomon, the greatest of their mon- 
archs for wisdom. Yet, in spite of all this, He has 
to bear such treatment from this "evil generation. ,, 

In Chapter xii., the first Crisis in the narrative is 



St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 47 

reached. From Chapter L, there has been a 
crescendo movement, apparently. The King has 
come, proved to be the Son of David. His fore- 
runner has announced Him, the nation has been 
roused. He Himself has been attesting His Mes- 
siahship by His life and teaching, until the fore- 
runner in prison, apparently helpless and forgotten 
by the Messiah, is about to die, and the official re- 
jection has commenced in xii:i4, by the first meet- 
ing of the Sanhedrim to plot His death. From this 
point, the proclamation of the kingdom ceases, as it 
had been hitherto announced, and another phase of 
the Lord's ministry is entered upon. 

This will explain the introduction of entirely new 
material into the third of the great discourses, and 
the adoption of the parabolic form of teaching, as 
being better adapted to His purposes. 

3. The New Kingdom. Chapter xiii. 

With the crowds gathered .around Him, the Lord 
commenced the teaching of the disciples with a series 
of parables, dealing with what we may term a New 
Kingdom, namely a kingdom in Mystery in contrast 
to one in Manifestation. This latter is impossible, 
because of the attitude of the nation towards Him 
personally. The abounding sin will only make grace 
to much more abound, but this will be hidden from 



48 St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 

the eyes of those who have been blinded to the true 
facts concerning the Messiah. In a later part of 
the Gospel, will be found the parable of the unfaith- 
ful husbandmen, chapter xxi. 33-44. In it, the Lord 
says, "The kingdom of God shall be taken away 
from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the 
fruits thereof/' Here He plainly describes the re- 
moval of the nation from the position designed for 
them of proclaiming the truth to the world, and that 
this position will be given to another. It is the trans- 
ference of the kingdom from its manifestation phase 
to its mystery phase. He must wait for the nation 
to receive and acknowledge Him before He can give 
them the kingdom in full manifestation. In the 
meantime, He will carry on, through others, another 
kind of kingdom, the working of which will, in large 
measure, be hidden, secret and mysterious, accom- 
plished by the unseen power which we now know 
to be that of the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. 
The parables contained in chapter xiii. and other 
subsequent chapters will deal with this phase of His 
purpose. They will be known by the phrase with 
which they begin : "The kingdom of heaven is like 

unto ." It will be seen, by careful study, that 

these parables cover the interval between the two 
advents, describing the progress of the work of God 
in the world under the altered conditions, namely, an 



St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 49 

absent King establishing the kingdom of God in 
individual human hearts, rather than the visible 
kingdom in a country or a nation. All will be found 
to be in preparation for, and anticipation of, the 
fact stated in xxv. 31, namely, the sudden arrival of 
the King in His glory, and with all the holy angels, 
to sit on the throne of His (earthly) glory, for be- 
fore Him will be gathered all the nations. 

It may be helpful here to examine the use and 
meaning of certain phrases which are very similar 
in construction, but which must be understood in 
their shades of meaning. We shall find the follow- 
ing: 

The kingdom of Heaven. 

The kingdom of God. 

The kingdom of Christ. 

The kingdom of the Father. 

Are these synonymous ? There will be much dif- 
ference of opinion as to this. The following 
thoughts are thrown out as suggestions, not as dog- 
matic assertions. 

The phrase the kingdom of heaven is used only 
in this Gospel, occurring thirty-two times. The cor- 
responding phrase, kingdom of God, on the other 
hand, occurs only five times (four times in the R. 
V.), but is frequently used in the other Gospels, and 



50 St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 

in the Epistles. In comparing some of the parallel 
passages, such as Matt. xix. 14, "of such is the 
kingdom of heaven," and Luke xviii. 16, "of such 
is the kingdom of God," the terms must be taken 
to mean the same thing. But it seems difficult to 
assume that they are therefore interchangeable. 

In Rom. xiv. 17, the Apostle Paul thus defines: 
"The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but 
Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost." 
This definition may be applied to any text where 
the phrase "kingdom of God" is used, and it will 
be found to make perfect sense. Not so, however, 
if applied to the phrase "kingdom of heaven." How, 
then, shall we differentiate? In again studying 
the narrative of St. Matthew, we notice that, be- 
tween chapters iii. and xii.., the "kingdom of 
heaven" refers to that which John the Baptist, and 
the Lord Jesus announced as about to be offered 
to the nation of Israel, in fulfilment of their Script- 
ures, namely, the establishment on earth, in their 
own land, of the kingdom of God through their 
Messiah visibly ruling, and through the nation con- 
trolling and governing the whole world, by prin- 
ciples and laws revealed from heaven, and given by 
the One from heaven. It would, therefore, combine 
the spiritual and the material phases of kingdom. 
After the crisis of the twelfth chapter, and the im- 



St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 51 

possibility of this being accomplished, the phrase, 
"kingdom of heaven/' assumes, it is suggested, a 
different meaning, and is "that which professes 

TO BE UNDER THE RULE OF AN ABSENT KlNG." It 

will, therefore, contain mixture of what is real and 
what is false, which can only be detected by the eyes 
of the King Himself, which are "as a flame of fire." 

Note, in the next place, the five occurrences of the 
phrase, "kingdom of God," in the Gospel, and how 
the Pauline definitions will fit into the context. 

(1.) Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His 
righteousness, and all things shall be added unto 
you. vi. 33. This is a spiritual fact, without 
question. 

(2.) If I, by the Spirit of God, cast out demons, 
then is the kingdom of God come nigh unto you. 
xii. 28. Anyone who was the subject of such a 
mighty miracle would become possessed of Right- 
eousness, which is Justification, Peace and Joy in the 
Holy Ghost. 

(3.) How hardly shall a rich mam enter the 
kingdom of God. xix. 24. Plenty of them are in 
the kingdom of heaven ; they are welcomed into the 
professing Church of Christ because of the position 
their wealth gives them; but have they Righteous- 
ness, Peace, and Joy in the Holy Ghost? It is 
difficult for a rich man, if a philanthropist, to real- 



52 St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 

ize his need of justification. His wealth gives him 
so much to enjoy, it is almost impossible for him to 
know his need of the peace of God passing all under- 
standing, or the joy of the indwelling of the Holy 
Spirit. 

(4.) The publicans and harlots enter into the 
kingdom of God before you! xxi. 23. It was 
easier to get these to confess their sin and receive 
Divine righteousness, peace and joy, than for the 
self-righteous Pharisees. As instances, there are 
Zaccheus, the Woman of Samaria, the sinful woman 
in Simon's house, as well as Matthew himself. 

(5.) The kingdom of God shall be taken from 
you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits 
thereof, xxi. 43. Have not the English-speaking 
nations been most used of God in proclaiming the 
doctrines of justification by faith, peace through 
the sacrifice of Christ, joy in the conscious presence 
of the Spirit of God and the fruits thereof? 

If this be a fair and truthful meaning of the two 
phrases, may we not make a survey of the whole 
of the Bible thus? All through human history, 
there have been the two classes, the True and the 
merely Professing. The period from Adam to Saul 
may be called, for convenience sake, the "kingdom 
of Jehovah." In this are found such men as Cain 
and Abel; Ishmael and Isaac; Esau and Jacob; 



St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 53 

Achan and Joshua, etc. The true ones form the 
kingdom of God of the period, for they 1 knew, but 
dimly perhaps, God's way of justifying, and God's 
way of peace. 

Then the period from David to Malachi may be 
termed the "kingdom of Israel," with its mixture 
of the true and false. There are the faithful and 
unfaithful kings alternating, such ,as Solomon and 
Rehoboam; Jehoshaphat and Jehoram; Hezekiah 
and Manasseh. The Prophets also were of the 
two classes, Elijah and the Prophets of .Baal; Jere- 
miah and Hananiah, etc. 

The third period will be from the First to the 
Second Advent of our Lord, and is called the 
"kingdom of heaven" period. Taking the language 
of the parables, we find there will be wheat and 
tares; good and bad fish; faithful and unfaithful 
servants; virgins with and without oil, etc. Into 
the kingdom of God are gathered the first of each 
of these couples, though all profess to be in the 
kingdom of heaven. 

The fourth is the millennial kingdom, which is 
called the "kingdom of Christ." During this period, 
there will be the same phase of mixture; many 
will yield but feigned obedience, and a smouldering 
rebellion will break out at the first opportunity. The 
"kingdom of God" will have assumed its largest 



54 St- Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 

dimensions in this period, but it will not be univer- 
sal. Once more must separation take place, when 
the King must sever the false from the true. 

After that period, there will come the "kingdom 
of the Father/' when Christ will have handed up 
the kingdom to God even the Father, and God shall 
be all in all. This is the great climax for which 
the Lord taught the disciples to pray in the petition, 
"Our Father, who art in heaven— THY KINGDOM 
COME." 

Now to turn back to Matthew xiii., and look 
briefly at the new statements from the rejected 
King's lips about this new "kingdom of heaven." 
He describes Himself under various names. In 
the first parable, He is Sower ; in the second, a Man 
owning a field ; in the third, a Man sowing a mustard 
seed ; in the fifth, a Man buying a field ; in the sixth, 
a Man buying pearls. The whole suggestion is 
that of a mysterious, veiled person working, un- 
observed, behind the scenes, unrecognized by the 
majority, but effectually working out his own pur- 
poses. The good seed he sows is the Gospel of the 
grace of God but it is counterfeited by the spurious 
gospel of the enemy. 

The outlook will be anything but bright; three- 
fourths of the sowing may be unproductive ; the field 
may yield a larger crop of worthless weed than 




G?OJJ J9ZJL I2ST _ 

Zaio wAIjc/L all z&& phases of/A<& 



56 St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 

wheat; the expense of acquiring what His heart is 
set on, may be very great, involving Him in the 
selling of all that He has, yet He will have that field 
with its treasure, and He will have that pearl of 
great price. 

The work goes forward, but not as the disciples 
had expected, and the King, no longer declared to 
be such, is veiled, for a time, and is developing a 
hidden kingdom, a spiritual one, till the day of 
manifestation. 

The keyword of this chapter is mixture, and the 
new word is mystery. 

4. The New Association, xvi. 13-28; xviii. 1-35. 

Chapters xiv., xv., xvi., have revealed the sudden 
cruel martyrdom of John the Baptist, the increas- 
ing hostility of the Pharisees, and the withdrawal of 
the Lord to the most remote boundary of His jour- 
neyings, namely, the coasts of Csesarea Philippi. 
Here He gives a further revelation of the future 
plans, and brings in His new word, CHURCH 
(xvi. 18) . He again refers to it in xviii. 17. Put to- 
gether the passages in xvi. 13-28 and xviii. 1-35, and 
they will make the fourth important discourse given 
to the disciples. It is a continuation of certain facts 
and principles of the kingdom of heaven, and He 
deals with His own sufferings and future return 



St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 57 

in glory, with the causing of Stumbling, Discipline 
and Forgiveness. At the commencement of this 
proclamation, He has used those words in xvi. 18, 
19, which have given rise to so much controversy, 
"Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my 
Church, and the gates of hades shall not prevail 
against it. I will give unto thee the keys of the 
kingdom of heaven/' etc. Confusion has arisen 
through the imagining that the words "Church" 
and "kingdom" mean the same thing. They are 
to be kept quite distinct. There are no keys to 
the Church. The Holy Spirit is the Porter who has 
charge of the door of entrance, and He alone can 
admit to the Church. No man, or body of men, no 
hierarchy, or committee can admit to the Church of 
God. They have keys of doors to admit to that 
which, on earth, is visible, and is called "the king- 
dom of heaven," or by men, "the Church," but it 
is not ratified in heaven, necessarily. The founda- 
tion of the Church is the Atonement, the work 
wrought out by the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. 

The keys handed to Peter were the keys of knowl- 
edge wherewith he subsequently went, after Pente- 
cost, and opened, to Jews and Gentiles the doors 
into the knowledge of who, and where, Jesus the 
Nazarene was, namely, on the right hand of God 
in glory, and not, as was thought, in the tomb in the 



58 St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 

garden of Joseph of Arimathea. Peter proclaimed 
the sovereignty of the King, the power of the King 
to save from sin because He had been crucified. He 
used one key on the day of Pentecost at Jerusalem, 
and 3,000 Jews entered the kingdom of heaven, and 
confessed Jesus as the Christ. He used the other 
key at Caesarea, in the household of Cornelius, and 
all that household also entered the kingdom of 
heaven. To his surprise, and to the surprise of 
others, there was found to be no "wall of partition" 
inside the doors. 

The concluding statement was that the veiled un- 
seen Lord would nevertheless be present with His 
people, even when only two happened to meet to- 
gether in His name, whether on the street, or in 
prayer, or in worship, or in any other way. If His 
name be the bond of union, the subject of conversa- 
tion, the object of faith, THERE AM I. This 
would lift the gloom and the difficulty with regard 
to the grave "kingdom" question, and they must 
work, worship, and wait for Him under these new 
and unexpected conditions. 

The keyword of this proclamation is presence, 
and the new word is church. 

5. The New Hope, xxiii.-xxv. 
It is the last week of the earthly ministry and 
of the loving care of those few faithful men and 



St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 59 

women. He has returned to Jerusalem, and is 
giving His last public utterances in the temple 
courts, and the final explanations to the disciples. 
Chapter xxiii. is the last utterance in the temple, and 
it is nothing but woe pronounced on those leaders 
who have opposed Him from the beginning, and are 
guilty of preventing others, who would have done 
so, from entering into the kingdom of heaven. The 
woe must fall, there can be no escape. The close of 
the chapter tells how He left the sacred building, 
calling it "Your house" not, as He had at the begin- 
ning of His ministry, "My Fathers house" The re- 
jected Son of the Father is leaving the house of the 
Father, and from henceforth it will be disowned, 
unprotected, unvisited. As He leaves, He hints at 
His return, but only as the welcomed Son of David 
and the Messiah from heaven. On the way to the 
Mount of Olives, the disciples, pained at His re- 
marks about the building they all loved so intensely, 
tried to rekindle His waning interest in it by calling 
His attention to its superb foundation stones, so 
clearly visible. 

This led to His memorable utterances to them 
on the mountain, contained in xxiv. and xxv. First, 
He drew a darker picture than He had yet drawn 
before them, describing the future convulsions, both 
national and physical, which would overwhelm the 



60 St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 

nation and city, culminating in the utter destruction 
both of city and temple, so that the most glorious 
house would be obliterated. It was a time of pro- 
found peace. The Lord was born when the Roman 
power held absolute sway, and there was not a ripple 
on the surface. But no sooner had the Jewish sin 
against God culminated in the crucifixion of the 
Son of God, and the rejection of the Holy Spirit, 
than war broke out which has never ceased, and con- 
tinues in the world up to the present time. It will 
so continue till the Prince of Peace returns to make 
wars to cease, and to do so by putting back into their 
right place the nation whom God long since chose 
to be HIS central power for the government of the 
world in righteousness and peace. No Peace Socie- 
ties can ever accomplish what God has put into the 
hands of His Son to accomplish. 

The disciples asked Him three questions : When 
shall these things be? meaning the overthrow He 
had just described; What shall be the sign of Thy 
coming? which He had referred to in xxiii. 39, and 
What shall be the sign of the end of the age? He 
had referred to the end of the age in chapter xiii., 
in the interpretation of the parable of the wheat and 
tares. These three questions He answers in the 
order in which they were asked. The first is 
answered in verses 4-8. 



St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 61 

"All these things are the beginning of travail." 

The second question is answered in verses 9 to 
the middle of 30, "Then shall appear the sign of the 
Son of man in heaven/' What that sign will be, 
there seems to be no indication. It will be a sign 
recognized by the remnant of the Jewish nation 
undergoing the last terrible siege of their city by the 
combined armies of anti-Christ. This sign will be 
to them the precursor of their great deliverance, to 
be shortly followed by the Son of man coming in 
the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 
The third answer is from the middle of verse 30, 
and 31. 

All the features described in the earlier verses 
have been prevalent throughout the world during 
the last nineteen centuries. The recurrence of earth- 
quakes, famines, and other great calamities, is not 
a sign of the end. It is the predicted order of things 
until God shall restore all things at the Second Ad- 
vent, and then these calamities will cease. 

The last section of this chapter is the Lord's com- 
ment on His predictions, giving practical shape to 
them in the exhortations He delivers. They are 
primarily meant for the guidance and comfort of 
such of His own nation as will be passing through 
the crisis period of the close of the dark part of 
the national history, and this chapter does not con- 



62 St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 

tain the revelation of these events in relation to the 
Church. 

Ch. xxv. concludes the discourse. The first par- 
able commences with the word then, fixing the 
time of fulfilment in relation to the preceding chap- 
ter. It concludes with the same injunction as in 
xxiv. 42, "Watch, therefore, for ye know not the 
day nor the hour." The second parable is a private 
scene of reward to faithful servants during the clos- 
ing darkest period. And the third is not parable at 
all, but the prediction of facts, namely, the appear- 
ing in glory of the Son of man, sitting upon the 
throne of His glory, the earthly throne, it must be 
remembered, and before Him being gathered all na- 
tions, mainly European nations, concerned in the re- 
cent events of the attack and defence of Jerusalem. 
The scene is one dealing with the preliminary stages 
of the establishment of the Messianic kingdom, so 
long delayed, and is the amplification of the words 
in xiii. 41, "the gathering out of His kingdom all 
things that cause stumbling and them that do in- 
iquity." If we are right in suggesting that the whole 
of the circumstances centre round the Jewish nation, 
then "My brethren" will refer to the members of 
that nation, and not to the members of the Church. 
The principle, however, holds good of the rewards 
to be given to all who have succoured the Lord's 



St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 63 

own people under any circumstances, but the inter- 
pretation of this scene must be localized to the people 
specially referred to, and for whose guidance and 
enlightenment this Gospel was primarily written. 

Thus the King will return, take possession of the 
kingdom by force, seeing He was rejected when 
coming on the ground of grace. It is not the termi- 
nation of the history of the world, but the termina- 
tion of another stage in its history merely, the stage 
that commenced with Christ's first coming to redeem 
and bless, and concludes with His return to govern 
and rule in righteousness. 

The keyword of this last proclamation is mani- 
festation. The new words are woe, elect, judg- 
ment. Not the whole nation are to be partakers of 
final blessing, but a selection out of them who shall 
be found to be believers. Not universal mercy, but 
judgment, must mark the arrival of the Lord, inas- 
much as His fulfilment of law in the Atonement 
will have been refused all down the centuries, and 
the great apostacy will have culminated in the de- 
velopment of anti-Christ, which will have vitally 
attected a large section of the nation, who will have 
received this evil and false Messiah, in preference 
to the true Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. The open- 
ing question, "Where is He that is born King of 
the Jews?" will have its full and final answer in 



64 St. Matthew: The King's Proclamations. 

His appearing in glory to occupy the throne of 
David, and in His enemies being made His footstool. 

WHEN THE KING COMES. 

They come and go, the seasons fair, 

And bring their spoil to vale and hills; 
But oh! there is waiting in the air, 

And a passionate hope the spirit fills. 
Why doth He tarry, the absent Lord? 

When shall the kingdom be restored, 
And earth and heaven, with one accord, 

Ring out the cry that the King comes? 

Chorus. — What will it be when the King comes! 

The floods have lifted up their voice — 

The King hath come to His own, His own! 
The little hills and vales rejoice, 

His right it is to take the crown. 
Sleepers, awake, and meet Him first! 

Now let the marriage hymn outburst, 
And powers of darkness flee, disperst: 

What will it be when the King comes! 

A ransomed earth breaks forth in song, 

Her sin-stained ages overpast; 
Her yearning, "Lord, how long, how long?" 

Exchanged for joy at last, at last! 
Angels carry the royal commands; 

Peace beams forth throughout all the lands; 
The trees of the field shall clap their hands: 

What will it be when the King comes! 

Now Zion's hill, with glory crowned, 

Uplifts her head with joy once more; 
And Zion's King, once scorned, disowned, 

Extends her rule from shore to shore. 
Sing, for the land her Lord regains! 

Sing, for the Son of David reigns! 
And living streams o'erfiow her plains: 

What will it be when the King comes! 



St. Matthew: The Kings Proclamations. 65 

Oh, brothers, stand as men that wait — 

The dawn is purpling in the east, 
And banners wave from heaven's high gate; 

The conflict now — but soon the feast! 
Mercy and truth shall meet again; 

Worthy the Lamb that once was slain! 
We can suffer now — He will know us then: 

What will it be when* the King comes! 

E. E. Elliott. 



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Chapter IV. 
ST. MATTHEW : THE KING. 



The Parables — Photographic and Prophetic. 

/P I V HIS Gospel contains twenty prominent Para- 
■*■ bles, of which thirteen are found only in it. 
Of these twenty, fourteen form the "kingdom of 
heaven" series. 

The thirteen peculiar to the book are : 

i. The Wheat and Tares. 

2. The Hidden Treasure. 

3. The Pearl of Great Price. 

4. The Dragnet. 

5. The Householder and His Treasure. 

6. The Unforgiving Servant. 

7. Vineyard Labourers. 

8. The Wedding Feast. 

9. The Ten Virgins. 

10. The Talents. 

11. The Sheep and Goats. 

12. The Builders on Rock and Sand. 

13. The Man with two Sons. 

The "kingdom of heaven" series comprises num- 
bers one to eleven, together with the parables of the 

67 



68 The Parables — Photographic and Prophetic. 

Sower, the Mustard Seed and the Leaven. The 
remaining parables, found also in other Gospels, are 
the Lost Sheep, the Unfaithful Vineyard Husband- 
men, the Patched Cloth, and the Wineskins. 

The Lord's parables have sometimes been com- 
pared to the great works of fiction produced by 
well-known authors, as though such might be classi- 
fied with these wondrous utterances of His. The 
difference between them lies in this, that whilst all 
works of fiction and parables may be photographic, 
and depict different phases of human life and char- 
acter as they actually exist, works of fiction by 
human writers can never be prophetic. If any 
should be, it is accidental, and not the result of 
foreknowledge. Not so with the Lord's parables. 
They must ever stand out as being divine in their 
conception, and whilst photographic of human char- 
acter in all time, and not merely when they were 
uttered, they are also prophetic, and as such, as ac- 
curate as in their other features. With the Lord, 
there was no speculation as to the future. He spoke 
from knowledge, not from mere guess of what per- 
chance might be. It is, therefore, highly derogatory 
ever to compare these sublime and far-reaching 
utterances with the highest flights of intellectual 
fancy. 

Another important feature that must not be over- 



The Parables — Photographic and Prophetic. 69 

looked, is, that in the Lord's parables nothing of 
fable, or contrary to nature is ever introduced. He 
invents nothing in order to illustrate the truth. All 
He weaves into parable is everyday matter-of-fact, 
things that happened constantly, and that might 
happen anywhere. This made all He said so strik- 
ing, so forcible. His word told so effectually, be- 
cause divine truths were illustrated by orcfinary 
happenings. Much of human parable is absolutely 
impossible and fictitious — clever as it may appear 
to be. 

How Does the King Appear? 
Having been officially rejected by the Sanhedrim, 
and knowing what the climax of this must be, the 
Lord began to teach in parables, not to conceal the 
truth, but to so partially veil it, that only those who 
came to inquire of Him the meaning, would be able 
to understand. The method He adopted was, 
therefore, to stir inquiry, not to stifle knowledge. 
In this way must the quotation from Isa. vi. in 
Matt. xiii. 14, be understood: "By hearing ye shall 
hear, and shall in no wise understand; and seeing, 
ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive : for this 
people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are 
dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed: 
lest, haply, they should perceive with their eyes, 
and hear with their ears, and understand with their 



yo The Parables — Photographic and Prophetic. 

heart, and should turn again, and I should heal 
them." To the disciples, He at once proceeded to 
explain, and nothing gave Him greater joy than 
to be enquired of. Is not this the secret today of 
all blessing? To the multitudes now, the Lord's 
words are as hidden as in His own time. 

In the series of parables selected for our study 
we shall see how He veils Himself, but shews what 
He is doing whilst rejected and invisible. In xiii. 
3, He appears as a Sower of seed. No one will look 
twice at such a familiar and ordinary man. In xiii. 
24, He represents Himself as a Man owning a field, 
and He afterwards explains that the field is the 
world. This one explanation is the clue to the sub- 
sequent use of the word "world" in other parables. 
He has stepped outside the narrow circle of the 
Jewish nation and polity, and is beginning to ex- 
pand His mission, and shew that it is for the world. 
This was one new idea for these disciples. In xiii. 
31, He is a Man sowing a tiny seed, a mustard seed, 
which develops abnormally, and becomes a great 
tree. Then, in xiii. 44, He is a Man who, finding 
a treasure, hides it, and buys the field wherein it is 
hidden, and sells all he has in order to be able to 
get possession. In the next parable, He is the 
Merchantman (ver. 45), selling all to buy the pearl 
of great price. To preserve the continuity of the 



The Parables — Photographic and Prophetic, yi 

teaching, it will be found necessary to make Him 
the prominent figure in all these cases. It is about 
Himself He is teaching as still the King, but the 
rejected King. But what is the treasure, and what 
is the pearl? 

It is a principle, in the interpretation of Scripture, 
that words are used in the same connection through- 
out, unless otherwise specified. We must therefore 
look to find out in what connection these two words 
are elsewhere used. The word Treasure is a favour- 
ite word descriptive of the peculiar value God has 
set upon the nation of Israel (see Exodus xix. 5, 
Psalm cxxxv. 4, and Malachi iii. 17). Here, then, 
is our clue. The Lord is evidently referring to the 
fact that He came to obtain possession of the lost 
nation, and to hide it in the world which He would 
redeem, till such time as He would produce it be- 
fore all eyes. Is not this the exact condition of 
the nation now, and will it not be so till He returns 
and discloses it as His peculiar treasure? Then for 
the Pearl we must turn to Rev. xxi. 21, where the 
gates of the new Jerusalem are spoken of as of 
pearl. And in a previous verse, this city is called 
the bride, the Lamb's wife. This seems to be an 
allusion to the Church as the Bride, and therefore 
the parable will contain, embedded in it, the truth 
that the same price paid for the world has also been 



72 The Parables — Photographic and Prophetic. 

paid for the Church. It is spoken of as "purchased 
with His own blood." 

While the first three parables give the general 
aspect of His work — proclaiming, and scattering, 
the good seed of the Gospel, the two last referred 
to give the inner fact of the purchase of Calvary, 
the rich One becoming poor in order to acquire the 
rights of property in the whole world and all it 
contains, namely, a people that belong to Him, and 
a Church to belong to Him for His special adorn- 
ment and glory. 

In xiii. 51, He speaks of Himself as a House- 
holder who bringeth forth out of his treasure things 
new and old. In what He has already said have 
been seen old things, such as the Word of God being 
like seeds ; an enemy being at work ; the angels ; the 
treasure; a big tree growing. But the new things 
He brought forth were startling in their meaning 
and far beyond the expectation and conception of 
the Jewish mind. The prophetic element has en- 
tered in with the phrase, "at the end of the age," 
and all the events clustering around it. 

In chap. xxi. 1, the King appears as a House- 
holder employing labour in his vineyard. If the day 
may represent the period of His absence, it shews 
how, during all the time of His absence, He is will- 
ing and anxious to secure workers, whom He will 
reward as He thinks fit. 



The Parables — Photographic and Prophetic. 73 

In chap, xviii. 23, He is represented, for the first 
time, as a King; but it is a private scene, and not a 
public one. He is seen taking account of His serv- 
ants, and finding out the terrible defalcations of one 
of them. The series of parables is drawing near its 
close, and as this is the case, the original features 
in which the King was represented begin to dis- 
appear, and what He really is comes into sight in- 
stead. 

In chap. xxii. 2, He gives the parable of the mar- 
riage of the king's son. It is easy to see who is 
meant. He Himself is the son, but attention is 
immediately diverted from the central group, to be 
fixed on one of the guests, and nothing further is 
told concerning the marriage, or the parties imme- 
diately concerned. 

Similarly, the next parable (chap. xxv. 4) opens 
with "Behold the Bridegroom comeih!" but no 
further description is given, nor, in either case, is 
any mention made of the Bride. Why not? To 
the Jewish mind, anything resembling the idea of 
marriage in connection with their Messiah was abso- 
lutely foreign to their thoughts. It would not have 
been politic or prudent to have then disclosed what 
was a mystery hidden from all prophets, and not re- 
vealed to any, namely, the mystery of the Church 
as the Bride of the Lamb. It is merely hinted at in 



74 The Parables — Photographic and Prophetic, 

the briefest manner, and attention drawn to other 
details which would be of more importance to those 
for whom these words were uttered. 

In chap. xxv. 13, He is seen as a Nobleman ad- 
ministering his estate and property, and this, again 
is a private scene, and not for the general public. 
Then, in verse 31, suddenly, without warning, or 
any intimation, the King takes His place on His 
throne, and wields the sceptre of sovereign power, 
which is irresistible. All nations are summoned ; 
none can or dare keep away. Around Him are the 
executive hosts of mighty angels, who do His will, 
who excel in strength, before whom the strongest 
human hosts are as nothing. They have watched the 
infinite patience and long suffering of their Lord, 
with human sin and rebellion, and now that the 
hour has struck for the putting forth of His mighty 
power, they are there, keen, eager, dependable, and 
accurate; and the work of solemn separation, so 
often foretold, proceeds. The unknown, unrecog- 
nized, ordinary Sower has been manifested as the 
Lord of the World, wherein He sowed the seed 
of the truth, which He watered with His own blood. 

The photographic features of the parables can be 
easily distinguished. In the parable of the Sower, 
He portrayed the different conditions of His hearers 
towards the truth. In the Wheat and Tares, He 



The Parables — Photographic and Prophetic. 75 

shevue: the crest::: attivity :•: the enemy in :; in- 
teracting by the sowing of error. In the Vineyard 

la: : •.:. r t r 5 . He iiiustratei the :::::. t5 :':: relicl-us 
;:i: — s: ::e entering ::: f:r :he sale :: the "rang a .:: 
made; others in simple trust At the same time, 
these features ire true it: ever reritrl :•: the his::: 
:: the rrtgreis :•: the litis hi: :r::::: They ire 
prophetic of how men will always act. 



:!.::?:: :? -Aj.ri.ui - 



7i .-.: •: . Ivtvji 



Amongst many, probably the majority, is the 

ilea that the vurii is being gradually :r:ught :: 
7:.:.i^ iu: : the ;r>:ess :: the ere: :i hug :: the 
l:srei an: that the :rhy kingitm sntken ::' is : 
spiritual kir.gi::::. v.h::i: vuii :-:;; the general 
well-being and alter the condition of things grad- 
ually, until the era of the millenniu: : r the g : 
age. shah ':e reached If the ilea :e ::cre:: is mere 
anything in the Lore s parables : prove :r war- 
rant it? Sttre.v He me seme i: :::: ::' sum 2 
:: : :e 5 5 . it it :e His methtd :: establish iug His 
kingdom, let us examine s::t:e :•: these r arables 
again, to c-b serve -.mat He i:es say. He indicates 
hrs: carnal failure. and r:: universal s::. : tesf. In 
the fist raratle :f the Smver. He shems that the 



j6 The Parables — Photographic and Prophetic. 

a crop, though that crop is a large one in propor- 
tion to the amount sown. In the second, that of the 
Wheat and Tares, a large portion of the field is 
occupied with what the enemy sowed, and there- 
fore, by so much, the yield is injuriously affected. 
The active opposition of Satan is as great a factor 
in non-success as the normal condition of human 
hearts. In the Mustard Seed is suggested abnormal 
growth, so that the herb which had as its original 
function that of bearing seed, fails to do so, and 
becomes a tree which cannot bear any fruit. It sug- 
gests, therefor^ the abnormal development of a 
system of so-called Christianity from 1 what Christ 
originally sowed, which has failed, and is failing, 
altogether, in its original purpose; so that instead 
of the world being fully evangelized and enlight- 
ened, more than two-thirds of its population in our 
own time have never heard the sound of the Gospel, 
and cannot hear it ; simply because the professing 
Church of God fails to understand its responsibili- 
ties. Then in the parable of the Leaven, the pres- 
ence of the leaven converts the meal into another 
substance. The three measures may suggest to 
us the doctrine of the Trinity, which is everywhere 
leavened with the threefold error of — first, the uni- 
versal Fatherhood of God; second, the non-aton- 
ing death of Christ and the doubt of His Deity; 



The Parables — Photographic and Prophetic, yy 

third, the denial of the Personality of the Holy- 
Spirit. No section of the Church now can be found 
to maintain the purity of doctrine; only individuals 
here and there are doing so. 

In the parable of the Unforgiving Servant is por- 
trayed the failure in spirit and inner motive, and is 
a picture of the business practice of Christendom 
of today. Two men both profess to be Christians, 
and attend the same place of worship. Both ack- 
nowledge the same Lord; both pray, "Have mercy 
on us — miserable sinners" But on the Monday, 
if the one finds that the other is owing him money, 
he puts the law rigorously in force to obtain pay- 
ment, although the debtor pleads that mercy be 
shewn him, even as the creditor has himself prayed 
for, and obtained, mercy of Another greater than 
either of them. Christian principle finds no place 
for its exercise in the business and commerce of so- 
called Christian men. 

Again, in the parable of the Labourers in the 
Vineyard, there is found failure to perceive the Em- 
ployer's sovereignty in the matter of payment as 
He chooses. Here may there not be a picture of 
the religious practice of Christendom? So many 
will practise religion for the immediate benefit it 
gives in social position and respectability. They 
have their reward. But another section practice 



y8 The Parables — Photographic and Prophetic. 

their religion from another motive, namely, 
faith in the Person who has employed them. Such 
get the same outward reward, but more. To the 
first set is said, "Go thy way' 3 implying, I have no 
further need of your services. Not so with those 
who went to work on faith. They will be wanted 
for higher service elsewhere. In the parable of 
the Ten Virgins is taught failure in watchfulness 
and in possession of the oil ; and in the parable of the 
Talents, failure in diligence. In short, in no case 
is there a picture of success and victory. 

The element of Mixture, too, is equally import- 
ant. Tares are mixed with wheat; leaven with 
meal ; good and bad fish have to be separated ; there 
are contented and discontented servants working 
together; there are guests with and without the 
necessary wedding garments, sitting side by side; 
there are sleeping virgins with and without oil, all 
together, and not till the crisis of the Master's ap- 
pearance takes place does separation ensue. In fact, 
He Himself said, concerning the tares and wheat, 
"Let both grow together till the harvest, and then 
I will say to the reapers. Gather the tares together 
to burn them, but gather the wheat into My barn" 

He did not foretell the world converted or sub- 
dued by the process of evangelizing, but He did 
foretell that, besides the real results of evangelizing, 



The Parables — Photographic and Prophetic. 79 

there would be the production of the imitation of the 
true, and the impossibility of any severance till au- 
thorized by Himself. Every effort has failed to 
purify the Church; and the condition of affairs, 
throughout the world, with the rapid increase of 
the heathen populations, should make men pause 
and think ere they give utterance to positive state- 
ments as to the conversion of the world to Christ. 
True, materially, things are improving rapidly: 
sanitary science, medical science, labour-saving ma- 
chinery, improved means of communication, the in- 
terchange of ideas by all the nations — all these 
things are causing rapid, momentous and beneficial 
changes to take place ; but this is not the spreading 
of the kingdom of God. It is the march of civiliza- 
tion, permitted, no doubt, by Divine wisdom and 
grace, but, all the while, the King is absent, and 
ignored by many, whilst the vaster multitudes are 
ignorant of His existence, to say nothing of their 
ignorance of His redeeming love. Looking all 
down the centuries, we can clearly see how prophetic 
were these utterances, and how profoundly import- 
ant they are for the careful student of the Word 
of God, that he may know the times in which he is 
living. 

The nominal Christian will be found to be rep- 
resented in the following ways : 



8o The Parables — Photographic and Prophetic. 

i. As a rocky ground hearer, and as a thorny 
ground hearer. 

2. As tares imitating the outward appearance, 
but producing no fruit. 

3. As bad fish, to be thrown away. 

4. As the unforgiving servant, and harsh to- 
wards his fellow-servants. 

5. As the grumbling day-labourer, resenting the 
treatment meted out to his supposed inferiors. 

6. As the self-righteous man, without the 
wedding garment, needing no provision of God to 
prepare him for admission into His presence. 

7. As sleeping ones unprovided with the neces- 
sary oil; indifferent to the surrounding circum- 
stances, and not possessing the Holy Spirit. 

8. As possessing a talent given by the Lord, but 
buried in the world, and never recognized as his 
Lord's at all, and therefore denying practically all 
responsibility. 

9. As the goats, in antagonism, and found at 
last on the left hand, to be sentenced to doom. 

The true Christian can be depicted by taking up 
the characters on the other side in the parables. 

One other fact of importance must be noticed in 
conclusion. There are the two parables of the Mus- 
tard 1 Seed and the Leaven, which are given by St t 



The Parables — Photographic and Prophetic. 81 

Matthew and St. Luke. The former introduces 
them as "kingdom of heaven" parables, the latter as 
"kingdom of God" parables. This produces a cer- 
tain amount of difficulty in their interpretation, if 
we pursue the principles of interpretation laid down. 

Much controversy has arisen as to the meaning 
of Leaven, which most assert is never used of any- 
thing but what is evil. Others, on the other hand, 
say that in these parables there is the one excep- 
tion, and that it here represents the silent, secret 
permeation of the world with the Gospel. In the 
first place, meal is never used as typical of the 
world. Then, again, the significance of a woman 
being the one to introduce it must not be overlooked. 
She is generally typical of either the true or the 
professing Church. The solution to the difficulty 
may lie in this direction, that the parables, being 
given evidently on two different occasions, and 
under different circumstances, are capable of two 
distinct interpretations. 

In the first case, they form part of a series in 
which the Lord is revealing the history of the pro- 
fessing Church on earth, and therefore in St. 
Matthew's Gospel it seems right to make the mus- 
tard seed represent abnormal growth never in- 
tended, and the leaven the symbol of the working 
of error in doctrine. 



82 The Parables — Photographic and Prophetic. 

In St. Luke's Gospel, however, we may draw 
quite another set of ideas from them. The occa- 
sion of their delivery, then, was after the healing 
of the woman in the synagogue, afflicted with spinal 
trouble for eighteen years, and suddenly cured 
(chap, xiii.) The greatest fault was found with 
the Lord by the ruler of the synagogue, and he re- 
quested that people would not come on the Sabbath- 
day to be healed. Then the Lord, in reply and ex- 
planation, pointed out that what had taken place 
was the working of the kingdom of God. Bearing 
in mind the definition already made, namely, that 
the kingdom of God is "Righteousness, Peace, and 
Joy in the Holy Ghost," He points out that what 
has taken place in this poor woman has been, first, 
a remarkable and unexpected growth of life and 
power, like that of the mustard seed, and that also 
she has been quickly and quietly infused with a 
secret life and blessing in spirit, soul and body, as 
leaven permeates three measures of meal. She has 
received that touch of His justifying power, and 
been delivered from the power of Satan. Peace 
with God has taken the place of gloom and depres- 
sion, while she has been so filled with joy that she 
has glorified God. 

It seems that we may let both applications of the 
parables stand, for both are true; only the leaven 



The Parables — Photographic and Prophetic. 83 

does not refer to the Gospel, but to the power of 
the truth, as spoken by the Lord, dominating a 
human being, and transforming her throughout. 

The great missionary parable is that of Matt, 
xxii., where the servants are sent out into the high- 
ways and byways to compel all whom they can to 
come in. We are living in that ninth verse, and 
must see to it that we so understand our Lord's 
teachings as to be obedient and active where He 
has commanded. 

Footnote. — It is not the purpose in this book to enter into a de- 
tailed exposition of the Parables of this Gospel. Those who desire 
something more exhaustive, would do well to consult a new book 
lately published, entitled, "The Study of the Parables," by Ada 
Habershon, and to be obtained from C. C. Cook, 150 Nassau Street, 
New York. Price, $1.50. 



Chapter V. 
ST. MARK: THE SERVANT. 

His Character, Conduct, and the Treatment 
He Received. 

"Behold My Servant, whom I uphold; Mine elect, in whom My 
soul delighteth." — Isa. xlii. i. 

The Author. 

/ I V HE writer of this Gospel had two names — 
-■- John, his Jewish name, and Mark (or 
Marcus), his Latin name. He was the son of a 
Jewish matron named Mary, who lived in Jeru- 
salem. His cousin was Barnabas, who lived in the 
island of Cyprus. The apostle Peter had been the 
means of his conversion to the faith of Christ, for 
he calls him "Marcus my son" in I Pet. v. 13. It 
was in his mother's house that the all-night prayer- 
meeting was being held for his beloved friend Peter 
when lying in prison under sentence of death (Acts 
xii). It was, therefore, perfectly natural that the 
apostle should make his way there immediately upon 
his deliverance from prison. 

Mark accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their 

84 



St. Mark: The Servant. 85 

departure to Antioch (Acts xii. 25). He went with 
them on their first missionary journey to the 
heathen (xiii. 5) ; but left them at Perga (xiii. 3), 
probably finding it impossible to keep pace with 
that tireless and indomitable man Paul. Later, 
when Barnabas wanted again to take his cousin on 
their second journey, Paul would not hear of it 
(Acts xv. 8). This so annoyed Barnabas, that he 
took him off to Cyprus, leaving Paul to choose some 
other companion, namely, Silas. But Mark recov- 
ered his lost position as a Foreign Missionary, for 
in Col. iv. 10, 11, we find him back at Paul's side 
in Rome, and called his fellow-labourer, and also 
mentioned by Peter as having been with him in 
Babylon. Then he is mentioned once more in 
2 Tim. iv. 11, when Paul asks Timothy to bring 
him along with him to Rome. He therefore fully 
recovered his original place in the love and esteem 
of the great apostle, and the record is given us, no 
doubt, to encourage and cheer those who, at the 
first attempt at difficult and trying work, fail. 

His Gospel was probably written at Peter's dicta- 
tion, and in Rome, and was chiefly designed to 
help the Roman Christians. There is great similar- 
ity in the opening of the Gospel with the opening 
words of Peter's address to Cornelius' household, 
in Acts x. Compare the two. 



86 St. Mark: The Servant. 

Characteristic Features. 

There is a marked omission of all references to 
Jewish law. Words are explained that would not 
be understood by Roman readers, such as 
Boanerges, Talitha cumi, Bartimeus, Abba Father, 
Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani. The two mites are said 
to make a farthing, and Gehenna is explained as 
fire unquenchable. 

Jewish customs are explained, such as washing 
hands before meals, time for Passover celebra- 
tion, the preparation day being for the Sabbath. 

The effect on the crowds, and on the disciples, 
of the Lord's words and actions is carefully noted; 
see such passages as i. 22-27, n - I2 >* a ^ so YU 57> x - 
24. Maoiy others should be looked up and noted. 

The Lord's human personality is strongly marked, 
as in such words as — He sighed deeply (vii. 34), 
He loved him (x. 21), wondered at their unbelief 
(vi. 2), looked with anger being grieved (iii. 5), 
rebuked Peter (viii. 33), He was moved with in- 
dignation (x. 14), was hungry (xi. 12), rests 
(vi. 31), and others. 

St. Mark is very circumstantial as to position, 
gestures, words, and describes persons. He nar- 
rates numbers, too, mentioning there were about 
two thousand swine, that the disciples were sent out 
two and two, that the crowds were made to sit down 



St. Mark: The Servant. 87 

by hundreds and by fifties. He records the time of 
day when events happened, such as : A great while 
before day, After some days, It being now eventide, 
It was the third hour. He is vivid, terse, clear, full 
of detail, full of emphasis, accurate. He portrays a 
man hard at work; doing what He says, practising 
His own preaching, praying much, sympathetic, un- 
ostentatious — very few words, but much work. He 
is the Model Servant. 

Retirement After Work. 

No servant of any repute ever waits round to 
hear what remarks might be made about his work. 
His sole business is to please his master. Notice, 
then, the occasions of the Lord's retirement : 

After the miracles of healing at the close of the 
Sabbath, He retired early in the morning for 
prayer, i. 35. 

After healing the leper, He was without in desert 
places, i. 45. 

He withdrew to the sea after the outburst of 
anger through the healing of the withered hand, 
iii. 7-12. 

He went about the villages teaching. He found 
village work much more successful than town work, 
and preferred the quiet, unobtrusive work to the 
more public, vi. 6. 



88 St. Mark: The Servant. 

"Come apart and rest awhile/' He knew the 
need for retirement after the strain of much work, 
vi. 31, 32. 

After another prolonged conflict, He arose and 
went into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. vii. 24. 

After healing the blind man, He went into the 
villages, vii. 27. 

He withdrew to the Mount of Transfiguration, 
ix. 22. 

He retired to Bethany after His Temple work, 
xi. 11. 

Every evening of that last week of His earthly 
ministry, He withdrew to the quiet, and peace, and 
sympathy of the home of His three dear friends at 
Bethany, xi. 19. 

The keyword is straightway, which has two 
other English renderings, namely, Forthwith and 
Immediately. In the Revised Version, the word 
"Straightway" has been uniformly used, and will 
be found 40 times. Such frequent repetition is in 
order to impress the mind with the rapidity, accur- 
acy, and value of such a servant, so unlike any ordi- 
nary earthly servant. Of the 40 occurrences, 9 are 
in connection with the corresponding activity of 
the enemy, and are as follows : 

The demoniac crying out in the synagogue as 
soon as Jesus entered. Why? Because never be- 



St. Mark: The Servant. 89 

fore had any one filled with the Holy Spirit en- 
tered that building, and so there had been no one 
to antagonize, i. 23. 

The conspiracy of the Pharisees followed imme- 
diately on the healing of the withered hand. iii. 6. 

"Then cometh Satan/' immediately the seed has 
fallen. By a little gossip and ordinary conversa- 
tion, how quickly the seed sown in a sermon is dis- 
posed of, within twenty yards of the door of the 
place of worship! iv. 15. 

The demoniacs met the Lord immediately He 
reached the other side. It was the invasion of the 
devil's peculiar territory, which was defended, v. 2. 

The rapid carrying out of the cruel design for 
the death of John the Baptist, vi. 25-27. 

The demon immediately tare the poor child he 
possessed, when he came into the presence of the 
Lord. ix. 20. 

The Council was held without delay to try and 
condemn the Lord after the arrest by the band of 
Judas, xv. 1. 

The Key Verse is x. 45, "The Son of Man 
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and 
to give His life a ransom for many." It would be 
the fulfilling of the great prophecy of Isaiah xlii. 
1-4 and 18. 

The Introduction is characteristic, inasmuch as 



90 St. Mark: The Servant. 

the narrative commences with the words : "The 
beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son 
of God." At once, the writer introduces the fore- 
runner, and in so doing, gets the great declaration 
of the character of the Servant of God in the 
forefront, namely, "Thou art My beloved Son, in 
Thee I am well pleased/' This is the beginning of 
the Gospel for all readers. The Son of God has 
come: has come from God: has come to earth to 
serve: has come to save. If God is well pleased 
with Him, who dare be displeased? Yet the Gospel 
story ends with the displeasure of the people mani- 
fested in the shouts of Crucify Him ! Crucify Him ! 
and this in spite of the question, "Why? What 
evil hath He done?" 

The Divisions and Chapter titles. 

The Divisions are five: 

(a) Preparation. Chap. i. 1-13. 

(b) Ministry in Eastern Galilee, i. 14-vii. 23. 
(e) Ministry in Northern Galilee, vii. 24- 

ix. 50. 

(d) Ministry in Judea and Perea. x. 1-3 1. 

(e) Closing scenes and Ascension, x. 32-xvi. 

Chapter Titles. 
The chapters are so full of incident, and move 
so rapidly, that it is difficult to fix on chapter titles, 



St. Mark: The Servant. 91 

so as to carry out the idea of "The Servant." The 
following are suggested in place of any better, 
though it would be wiser for all readers to make 
their own titles, rather than adopt another's offhand : 

I. Servant introduced to work. 

II. Sick of the Palsy. 

III. Withered Hand. 

IV. Sowing and Groaning. 

V. Subduing Disease, Demons, Death. 

VI. Sent, Slain, Satisfied, Stilled. 

VII. "Ephphatha !" 

VIII. "As trees walking!" 

IX. Transfiguration. 

X. Entering the kingdom of God. 

XI. Entering Jerusalem. 

XII. Question and Answer. 

XIII. Prophecy. 

XIV. Gethsemane. 

XV. Despised and Rejected. 
XVI. Risen and Ascended. 

The Ministry of the Hand. 

A servant is valued according to the skill in 
the work he has to do. There will be prominence 
given to the ministry of His hands, as seen in the 
following passages: 

He took her by the hand, and the fever left her. 
i. 31. 

He put forth His hand and touched the leper, i. 41. 

The prayer of Jairus was that He would come 



92 St. Mark: The Servant. 

and lay His hand upon his dying child, and she 
would recover, v. 33. 

He took the damsel by the hand: doing exactly 
what He had been asked to do, with the result fol- 
lowing that was anticipated, v. 41. 

The deaf man was brought to Jesus, and his 
friends beseech Him to put His hands on him. They 
have made the discovery of the power in those 
hands, vii. 32. 

He put His fingers into his ears, and touched his 
tongue. The Lord always loved to identify Himself 
with the actual cause of trouble and show how 
fully He understood the trouble and sympathized 
with the sufferer, vii. 33. 

The blind man was brought also by his friends, 
who requested Jesus to touch him. The Lord took 
him by the hand first, to lead him away from his 
friends and have him alone. Then He put His hands 
upon him, a first and a second time, till his vision 
was clear, viii. 22-25. 

The little, demon-possessed boy brought by his 
father was hurled to the ground by the demon, as 
Jesus commanded him to leave. Then, as the child 
lay unconscious upon the ground, Jesus, with infin- 
ite compassion, took him by the hand and lifted 
him up. ix. 27. 

He took a child, and when He had taken him in 



St. Mark: The Servant. 93 

His arms, He made use of him as an object-lesson 
for the disciples, ix. 3-36. 

He healed the withered hand, and enabled the man 
to work again, iii. 5. 

One poor woman said, "If I may but touch the 
hem of His garment." The use of His hands to- 
wards the needy made some wish to use their hands 
towards Him. v. 28. 

If they might but touch, if it were but the border 
of His garments. His outstretched hand and their 
outstretched hands ! Thus does the hand of the 
Saviour meet the fevered, leprous, dead, shrunken 
hand of the sinner, and there is life and health im- 
mediately, vi. 56. "Behold My Servant! 33 

It will be noticed that there are only four par- 
ables in this Gospel, for a servant is not necessarily 
a teacher. Of these, one only is found peculiar to 
the Gospel — that of iv. 25-29. It is characteristic of 
the portrait of the Servant, for the Man who sows 
the seed does his work faithfully, and goes away, 
leaving all results to God, until the time of harvest 
shall come round. This is all any servant can do. 
This is what Jesus did. It also suggests the silent, 
secret watchfulness of God over the world, and over 
His Word in it. The other three are the parables of 
the Sower, Mustard Seed, and Unfaithful Husband- 
men of the Vineyard. 



94 St- Mark: The Servant. 

How was He Treated? 

Will not such a servant, with such wonderful 
powers of service, be welcomed and valued? Alas! 
no. Man's thoughts are not as God's thoughts. 
'They will reverence my son/' said the father in 
the parable of the Vineyard, but they cast Him out 
and slew Him. See how St. Mark describes this: 

They took counsel how they might destroy Him. 
iii. 6. 

They began to pray Him to depart out of their 
coasts, v. 17. 

They laughed Him to scorn, v. 40. 

Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary ? And 
they were offended in Him. vi. 3. His lowly estate 
hid from their eyes His true position as the One 
who had taken upon Him the form of a servant, and 
was found in fashion as a man. 

They began to question Him — or tempting Him, 
as the R. V. puts it, showing that the form of ques- 
tioning was not inquiry, but opposition, viii. 11. 

They sought how they might destroy Him. xi. 18. 

Sought to lay hold of Him. xii. 12. 

Sought how they might take Him by craft, and 
kill Him. xiv. I. 

Judas Iscariot went away unto the chief priests, 
that he might deliver Him unto them — sought how 
he might conveniently deliver Him. xiv. 10. 



St. Mark: The Servant. 95 

Judas came to Him and kissed Him. xiv. 45. 

They laid hands on Him and took Him. xiv. 46. 

The chief priests and the whole council sought 
witness against Jesus to put Him to death, xiv. 56. 

Many bare false witness against Him. xiv. 56. 

Then stood up certain, and bare false witness 
against Him. xiv. 57. 

They all condemned Him to be worthy of death, 
xiv. 64. 

Some of them began to spit upon Him, and to 
cover His face, and to buffet Him. The officers re- 
ceived Him with the blows of their hands. In the 
margin, this will be found as "strokes of rods." 
xiv. 65. It would seem, therefore, that, in the high 
priest's house, the Lord was beaten on the face with 
rods. This would fulfil — "His visage was more 
marred than any man's/' It was an awful infliction, 
and agonizing in the extreme; and this was 
Jehovah's Servant, who had done such works of 
healing and mercy, as was so well known. 

They bound Jesus and carried Him away, and 
delivered Him up to Pilate, xv. 1. 

The chief priests accused Him of many things. 
xv. 3. 

The chief priests stirred up the multitude that he 
should rather release Barabbas unto them. xv. 11. 

They cried out, "Crucify Him!" xv. 13. 



g6 St. Mark: The Servant. 

They cried out exceedingly, "Crucify Him!" 
xv. 14. 

He delivered Jesus, when he had scourged Him, 
to be crucified, xv. 15. This was the second 
scourging, by Roman sdldiers, on the back, with the 
awful scourges, which were lashes with bits of sharp 
metal interwoven. "I gave my back to the smiters ;" 
"His form was more marred than the sons of men." 

They clothe Him with purple, and plaiting a crown 
of thorns, they put it on Him. xv. 17. 

They began to salute Him — "Hail! King of the 
Jews." xv. 18. 

They smote His head with a reed, and did spit 
upon Him, and bowing the knees, they worshipped, 
xv. 19. 

They mocked Him. They lead Him out to crucify 
Him. xv. 20. 

They offered Him wine, mingled with myrrh, 
xv. 23. 

They crucify Him, and part His garments among 
them. xv. 24. 

They that passed by, railed on Him, wagging 
their heads, and saying, "Ha! thou that destroyest 
the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself 
and come down from the cross." xv. 29, 30. 

In like manner, the chief priests, mocking Him 



St. Mark: The Servant. 97 

among themselves, with the scribes, said, "He saved 
others . . . ." xv. 31. 

They that were crucified with Him, reproached 
Him. xv. 33. 

One ran, and, filling a sponge full of vinegar, 
put it on a reed, and gave Him to drink, saying, 
"Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to take 
Him down." xv. 36. 

This was the last offering from man to his Saviour 
— some vinegar. And how much vinegar of scorn 
and unbelief has since been offered Him by human 
hearts that have equally scorned and rejected Him! 
Thus was God's seryant treated : but God has highly 
exalted Him, and given Him the name above every 
name, even the name of Jesus. Over every page 
of this Gospel may be written, "Behold My Serv- 
ant!" 

MY LORD AND I. 



I have a friend so precious, 

So very dear to me, 
He loves me with a tender love, 

He loves so faithfully, 
I could not live apart from Him, 

I love to feel Him nigh — 
And so we dwell together, 

My Lord and I. 



98 St. Mark: The Servant. 

Sometimes I'm faint and weary- 
He knows that I am weak, 

And as He bids me lean on Him, 
His help I'll gladly seek; 

He leads me in the path of light, 
Beneath a sunny sky — 

And so we walk together, 
My Lord and I. 

He knows how much I love Him. 

He knows I love Him well: 
But with what love He loveth me, 

My tongue can never tell; 
It is an everlasting love, 

In every rich supply — 
And so we love together, 

My Lord and I. 

I tell Him all my sorrows, 

I tell Him all my joys, 
I tell Him all that pleases me, 

I tell Him what annoys; 
He tells me what I ought to do, 

He tells me what to try, — 
And so we talk together, 

My Lord and I. 

He knows how I am longing, 

Some weary soul to win, 
And so He bids me go and speak, 

A loving word for Him; 
He bids me tell His wondrous love, 

And how He came to die — 
And so we work together, 

My Lord and I. 

Mrs. L. Shorey. 



Chapter VI. 
ST. MARK: THE SERVANT. 

The Servant at Work. 

/ | V HREE features run through the four gospels 
■* — The Work of the Lord by Prayer, by His 
Word, by His Hand. The details of the first of the 
three will be more particularly found in St. Luke. 
The other two we shall gather up from the four 
gospels. The work of His lips and hand are gen- 
erally called miracles. What is miracle? It is a 
sign that the words spoken are true, and that though 
what was said was contrary to human experience, 
none the less it has become fact. Hume, the great 
w r riter, said that miracle was contrary to experience. 
This is very likely, since "My ways are not your 
ways, saith the Lord.'' Some one has said that 
"prophecy is a miracle in words, and that miracle 
is a prophecy in action." 

Miracles were wrought to attest the truth of His 
words, and in response to faith; not to produce faith. 
Thus : "I will, be thou clean'' were the words He 
uttered to the leper ; they were a prophecy, and they 
came to pass, contrary to the ordinary human ex- 
perience. To the sick of the palsy, the Lord said, 
99 



ioo St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 

"Son, thy sins are forgiven thee." There was no 
proof of any power being in those words, till He 
added, "Rise, take up thy bed and walk." The man 
doing so was the sign that the words spoken were 
true, and that he was not only a healed man, but a 
forgiven man — the miracle was a prophecy in ac- 
tion. 

Miracles must not be a useless display of super- 
natural power, but must touch the enemies of man- 
kind when man himself is powerless against them. 

Miracles draw a crowd. The Lord always shunned 
a crowd, and withdrew Himself. Why? Because 
He knew that the crowd would worship the power, 
and not the God behind the power. Miracles are 
signs of some one behind and beyond, namely, the 
Living God. 

The Lord always refused to work a miracle or 
"show a sign" in order to induce faith. Through- 
out the Gospels, substitute the word sign for the 
word miracle, and the value of the act wrought will 
appear more manifest. At the outset of His min- 
istry, He read the famous passage from Isaiah lxi., 
describing the anointing of the Spirit for His great 
work (Luke iv. 18, 19). "The Spirit of the Lord 
is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach 
the Gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the 
broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the cap- 



St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 101 

tives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set 
at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the 
acceptable year of the Lord." That anointing re- 
mains, and "He is the same, yesterday, today, and 
for ever." Therefore, the same 

RESULTS ARE TO BE EXPECTED 

in the spiritual realm of need, as were manifested in 
the physical. 

By the Spirit, the Lord wrought His gracious 
works. He has sent that Spirit down to dwell in 
the individual members of the Church of God, in 
order that He may fulfil His gracious purposes, and 
continue the ministry of help and life to the needy. 
The presence of the Spirit of God in the Church of 
God is in order to carry on the work of Christ on 
earth, and may not the Lord's words in John xiv. 
12, be taken to apply here? The promise com- 
mences with "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he 
that believeth on me." There is the emphatic 
Amen of Christ to call attention to the following 
declaration, so that there shall be no passing by of 
the statement carelessly. Then the great condition 
of the promise, "He that believeth on me." Here 
lies our trouble : we do not believe the Lord means 
the words, "the works that I do shall he do also, 
and greater works than these shall he do." Hence 



102 St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 

the presentation of the Gospel lacks the assurance 
and positiveness that should command attention and 
faith. The Lord, by the Spirit, is prepared to work 
effectively through the worker now along the line 
of His promise, of which the following facts are 
to be the illustrations. (We do not propose to deal 
with the physical healing question, either in denial 
or affirmation, but to confine our attention exclusive- 
ly to the typical teaching of healing). 

The total number of "signs" of all kinds nar- 
rated in the Gospels is 34. They may be divided 
into 7 groups, as follows : 



I. 


Over Satanic power 


6 cases. 


2. 


Over sicknesses 


16 cases, 10 varieties. 


3- 


Over death . 


3 cases. 


4- 


Over sword-cut. 


1 case. 


5- 


Over storms 


2 cases. 


6. 


In connection with 






food supplies 


3 cases. 


7- 


In connection with 






fish .... 


3 cases. 



St. Matthew has two peculiar to his Gospel : The 
two Blind Men cured (chap, ix), and the Tribute 
Money (chap, xvii.) St. Mark has also two pe- 
culiar : The Blind Man cured, in vii., and the Deaf 



St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 103 

Mute, in viii. St. Luke has six peculiar : The 
Draught of Fishes, in v. ; the Raising of the Widow 
of Nain's Son, in vii. ; the Healing of the Spinal 
Trouble, in xiii. ; the Cure of Dropsy, in xiv. ; the 
Ten Lepers, in xvii., and the Healing of Malchus' 
Ear, in xxii. St. John has six peculiar to his Gospel : 
Water made Wine, in chap. ii. ; the Raising of the 
Nobleman's Son, in iv. ; the Impotent Man at the 
Pool of Bethseda, in v., Lazarus Raised from the 
Dead, in xi., and the Draught of Fishes, in xxi. 

Group i. — Over Satanic Power. 

Demon-possession was a not uncommon fact. 
Satan antagonized the Lord by directly controlling 
human lives. His action in men illustrates the en- 
mity of sin. Matthew viii. 28-34 records the case of 
the two Gadara man, dwelling in the tombs. This 
was a Satanic invasion of the home life, and deliv- 
erance was wrought by His Word of power, and the 
men went home blessed of God. 

Mark i. 23-26 gives the account of a synagogue 
case. The man was apparently a worshipper, and 
may never have disturbed a public service before, 
but the presence of the Spirit of God in Jesus roused 
him to attack. It is typical of Satanic power in those 
attending public worship, unsuspected, and hereto- 
fore undisturbed. Why is there no similar disturb- 



104 St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 

ance now ? May it not be because of the absence of 
the power of the Spirit in the w r orshippers, who 
would be greatly surprised, if not scandalized, by 
such unseemly interruptions ! 

In Matthew ix. 32-33 ; xii. 22, we find cases in 
w r hich the senses of seeing and hearing are affected, 
and the lips are consequently silent. We are re- 
minded of 2 Cor. iv. 4, "In whom the God of this 
world hath blinded the minds of them that believe 
not." Then in Matthew xvii. 14-18, and xv. 21-28, 
are the cases of two children, a boy and a girl. In 
the former case, much violence accompanied the 
demon-possession. How were all these cases 
handled? — by a word of power from the Lord. He 
spoke with authority, the authority of the Spirit- 
filled life, and there was immediate obedience to His 
Word. So striking was the result, that the people 
in the synagogue (Mark i.) said, "What new teach- 
ing is this ?" It was so utterly unlike anything they 
were accustomed to see or hear. It was a teaching 
followed by results of a startling and permanent 
character — deliverance from the power of Satan. 
And now come two questions : First, Are we sur- 
rounded by men, women and children who are 
equally under Satanic power, though the manifesta- 
tion of it may be different? Second, Have we au- 
thority to deal with such 



St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 105 

IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS,, 

risen, and exalted, through the indwelling Holy 
Spirit? If we have, are we faithful to our trust, are 
we using "authority?" Is not the great lack today, 
power to command? And sometimes while we are 
praying the Lord to save, might not He be waiting 
for us to claim His power, and speak in His Name? 
He gave the disciples power over unclean spirits 
(Matt. x. 8) as proof they were commissioned by 
Him, to act in His Name and on His behalf. Much 
ministering power was bestowed upon His servants 
that they might prove the authority of His Name, 
while absent and invisible. He added, however, in 
Mark ix. 20, a significant word, "This kind can come 
out by nothing but by prayer and fasting." In addi- 
tion to the detailed cases referred to, there are a 
number of general statements as to the casting out 
of unclean spirits, such as Matthew iv. 24, Mark i. 
34, etc. 

It must not be forgotten, moreover, that the con- 
flict of the believer now is described in Eph. vi. 12, 
to be with wicked spirits in heavenly places. We are 
called to this war, and we might be effective in its 
prosecution. 

Power for being fellow-workers with God depends 
on two things, the Infilling of the Spirit, and Prayer. 
The loss of the power to handle the demon-possessed 



io6 St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 

was keenly felt by the disciples, as recorded in Mark 
ix. 29. They had been successful when sent out two 
and two, but here were nine of them together, and 
unsuccessful. The power had left them. The ex- 
planation may be found in the words of verses 33 
and 34. They had been disputing who was the 
greatest, and in all such movings of the pride of 
the human heart, divine power must leave. 

The blessed Servant of Jehovah was always meek 
and lowly in heart, always filled with the Spirit, 
always in prayer, and, therefore, always ready to 
meet and deliver any oppressed one. The Apostle 
Peter speaks of Him, in Acts x. 38, "God anointed 
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with 
power, who went about doing good, and healing 
all who were oppressed of the devil, for God was 
with Him." 

Group 2. — Over Sicknesses. 

The sixteen cases of sickness cured may be di- 
vided into ten sections, as follows : 

Fever, 2 cases. Leprosy, 2 cases. Blindness, 4 
cases. Palsy, 2 cases. Dropsy, 1 case. Deaf and 
dumb, 1 case. Withered hand, 1 case. Lameness, 
1 case. Spinal trouble, 1 case. Issue of blood, 1 
case. These are healed, some by a touch, some by a 
word, some by a word and touch combined. In every 



St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 107 

case, however, there was faith and obedience brought 
into exercise, either on the part of the case for 
treatment, or of the friends interceding. "He that 
believeth in Me" is still the condition for receiving 
His blessing. 

The typical teaching of disease: 

Fever represents the restlessness of Sin, temper. 

Leprosy — The corruption of Sin, gross habits of 
Sin. 

Dropsy — Heart trouble. "I cannot love." . 

Palsy — The inability and unconsciousness of Sin. 
"I cannot feel." 

Lameness — Inability to follow, backsliding of Sin. 
"I cannot walk after Christ." 

Blindness — The ignorance of Sin. "I cannot see." 

Dumbness — The silence of Sin. 

Withered Hand — The powerlessness of Sin. "I 
am unable." 

Spinal Trouble — The bondage and depression of 
Sin. 

Issue of Blood — The defilement and enervation of 
Sin. 

These various forms of sickness are typical of 
the various forms of sin-sickness in human hearts. 
The pressure of the need assumes different forms, 
and is expressed in different ways. While the root 
trouble throughout is sin, the manifestation of its 



108 St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 

presence is very varied, and the treatment is neces- 
sarily varied also. The study of the Lord's methods 
of healing* is most instructive for Christian workers 
today. His conversation with the sick will often 
be found to be His message, through the Holy 
Spirit, to those who are conscious of the sickness 
of sin. 

In dealing with people individually, therefore, it 
is of great importance to take time to 

DIAGNOSE THE CASE, 

and see in what form sin is making itself felt to their 
consciousness. With many, there is a definite and 
specific sense of need, not always of pardon, but 
often of deliverance from some phase of sin. For 
instance, one hears the expression, "I cannot see this 
or that." The trouble is blindness. Or it may be, 
"I cannot feel anything." This is palsy or paralysis. 
Or again, "I have tried to follow Christ, and I 
cannot." Lameness is here the trouble. Certain 
overmastering bad habits will indicate leprosy, while 
dumbness is by no means uncommon, shewn in the 
refusal to confess sin to the Lord, or to answer a 
question, or to confess a wrong done to another. 
Cases of great depression are by no means uncom- 
mon. A little careful enquiry will generally shew 
some bondage of habit that Satan has imposed, from 
which there is need of deliverance. 



St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 109 

Let us first be quite clear in our own minds as to 
how far we personally believe and expect the Lord to 
act now. Do we think He can suddenly and per- 
fectly remove a habit such as temper? or that He 
can take away the leprosy of lust instantaneously? 
or that He can open the eyes of the blind as quickly 
as He opened the eyes of Bartimeus? And then let 
us further take time to enquire before the Lord 
whether we believe He has given us the Holy Spirit 
in power, and that zee have accepted Him in order to 
the accomplishment, by Him, through us, of works 
of mercy and deliverance. Do we expect gradual 
cures of habits of sin, gradual deliverances from the 
bondage of sin, or do we look for signs of His 
power, and immediate salvation? We probably 
would all agree as to pardon for all sin being 
granted : why not then expect and believe for the 
accompaniment of pardon, namely, deliverance and 
healing from the virus axd poisox of six? And 
if we know it experimentally, may we not proclaim 
it as the "Gospel of our Salvation," and announce 
to the many that there is immediate, wonderful, 
blessed healing? 

Fever. Carefully study the cases given us: "The 
fever left her," Mark i. 31. "The fever left him," 
John iv. 52. How? By His Word commanding 
and His own life flowing in. Why not thus have 



no St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 

temper healed, and all other signs of a fevered 
character ? It is interesting to note that in this first 
case recorded, the Lord was present and touched; 
in the second, many miles separated Him from the 
boy afflicted. But the healing is instantaneous in 
either case. "All power is given unto Me in heaven 
and on earth." 

Leprosy. This disease is of unique importance, 
as being the type, in Scripture, of the utter hopeless- 
ness of sin. The disease was incurable under any 
treatment. Only God could heal, and that 
in answer to prayer, as in the case of Miriam, and 
of Naaman the Syrian. The instances of healing, 
therefore, are specially significant of the mighty 
power of God. 

In one case, He touched, saying, "I will, be thou 
clean/' Matthew viii. 3. And immediately new life 
went coursing through the man's veins. In the 
other, He was at a distance, and said, "Go, shew 
yourselves to the Priest," etc., Luke xvii. 14, and 
the same result followed. Faith in His power and 
will was manifested in the attitude taken towards 
Him, followed by prompt obedience to His com- 
mand. So it will be again. Kindle expectation in 
the willingness, power, and purpose of the Lord 
to act as of old, and many a man and woman, now 
held by some horrid, vicious power, may rise eman- 



St. Mark: The Servant at Work. in 

cipated. We, as workers, at times lack the courage 
of faith to announce the Lord's power, and love to 
heal instantaneously, and we possibly suggest 
prayer, when the Lord wants obedience. The aim 
must be to get the case handled to this attitude of 
the lepers, namely, at Christ's feet. 

In the study of the case of the leper, in Matthew 
viii., connect the action of the man with some of 
the utterances in the Sermon on the Mount, to which 
he was probably an unseen listener, and trace how he 
might have been stirred to act as he did. 

The Dropsy case (Luke xiv. 2-4), seems to be a 
beautiful illustration of the Lord leaving a memento 
of a visit to a private house, one Sabbath day. He 
was not very welcome, nor was He much trusted, 
but that has no effect upon His loving purposes. If 
He sees a needy case, He will deal with it, and He 
does. Heart trouble is very common; the pulse of 
love beats feebly and irregularly, but 

A WORD FROM HIM WILL CURE. 

The presence of this trouble is indicated by such 
words as "I have no love," "I' have so little love," 
"My heart is so cold/' Or by the general confes- 
sion in the week-night prayer-meeting, "Lord, we 
confess that we do not love Thee as we ought.'' The 
sad fact is that this is chronic. It is impossible to 



H2 St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 

generate love by any self-effort — it must be "shed 
abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost." 

Blindness. The four cases of Blindness form 
a very remarkable group illustrating four distinct 
methods of imparting blessing. Matthew ix. 27-31. 
Two blind men followed Him. They were enquir- 
ers pleading. Isaiah lv. 3. "Thou Son of David, 
have mercy upon us." They must have heard him, 
and were determined to have a "personal interview, 
for they went into the house. Note His treatment 
of them. "Believe ye that I am able to do this?" 
"Yes, Lord." "According to your faith be it unto 
you." He was the "Amen" to their "Yes." See 2 
Cor. i. 20, R. V. In dealing with enquirers for 
light, do not try and prove anything, but draw 
the attention to this narrative, point out the simi- 
larity of need, and the Lord will again give the 
light. He can touch by the Holy Spirit, and open 
the eyes of the heart. Describing how things look 
will never give sight. 

Mark viii. 22-26. In this case, they bring Him a 
blind man, and beseech Him to touch. Here are 
Interested Friends. The man himself may be re- 
luctant, or non-expectant, or unwilling. So often, 
friends, nowadays, force along an unwilling soul, 
and "try to get him saved." The Lord, perfectly 
understanding the surroundings of the case, takes 



St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 113 

him away from them all, and Seals with him alone. 
As a rule, get such an one away from the anxious 
friends as soon as possible; it is seldom wise to 
speak to a man before his wife, or to a child before 
his parents. Either they may chime in and com- 
pletely spoil all you have said, or, after you have 
gone, may endeavor to "rub it in," to the efface- 
ment of any impression that may have been made. 

This miracle is the only one of non-instantaneous 
results, and probably for a good reason, to teach 
us patience in our work, and to show how at first, 
in some cases, there is distorted vision, exaggera- 
tion — men appearing like trees. He will touch again, 
and all will be clear. We may sometimes have taken 
too little trouble to clear vision. 

Mark x. 46-52. Bartimeus was a blind beggar, 
who started out, that day, to his usual place, with 
no interest, no knowledge, and no expectation of 
anything special likely to happen to him. But sud- 
denly his interest is awakened by the unexpected 
passing by of Jesus. His case represents sudden 
conviction of need produced by the unexpected 
presence of the Lord in the power of the Holy 
Spirit. His cry is genuine, his faith is active, but 
his obedience must be tested. He has no friends to 
help him, so two disciples are despatched to lead 
him to the Lord. A different question is put to him 



114 St- Mark: The Servant at Work. 

from that used in the first case, "What wilt thou that 
I should do unto thee?" It is the man himself who 
is to define what he wants and expects. Then 
comes the answer: "Lord, that I may receive my 
sight ;" not, "Lord, give me a blessing," that vague, 
indefinite word that is so commonly used, and often 
means so little. A definite request can get a definite 
answer, and call forth a definite thanksgiving. 

But note, in the story, a detail, very suggestive. 
"He, casting away his garment, came." It will very 
commonly be found that there is a specific hindrance 
in coming to Christ in some cases that have to be 
dealt with. The will may long have determined to 
hold on to some little habit, or grudge, or purpose, 
and this may have to be sought for and dealt with 
before the sinner can be led to Christ. This kind 
of work cannot be hurried. There must be time 
taken for quietly and effectually probing into things, 
and then, when all is ready, the sight flashes, and 
the blind one sees Jesus, and follows Him at once. 
It is important, in all these cases of blindness, to 
avoid praying with the enquirer. By so doing, the 
attention is drawn off the Lord on to the prayer 
being offered. When the time has come to speak 
to the Lord, tell the details of the case to the Lord, 
but avoid asking for anything. Carefully ob- 
serving how the Lord conversed w r ith these men, 



St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 115 

use the same questions, and seek to elicit the answer 
that will prove the faith is in exercise, and can 
obtain the blessing of sight. 

John ix. contains the story of a blind man who 
was not an enquirer, who had no friends, who was 
undisturbed by any crowd or excitement, but whom 
Jesus saw. He dealt with him, taking the initiative 
Himself, and testing the man's faith and obedience 
by saying, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam ;" send- 
ing him away, rather than drawing him to Himself. 
It is a parallel method to that employed with the 
ten lepers. Workers may often find that an act of 
obedience in some other direction, such as going 
to a friend and confessing, or making restitution 
for an injury done, may be preliminary to the open- 
ing of the eyes. What commits the soul to Christ 
is the important factor in the case. The act of 
washing, proving the obedience of the man, com- 
mitted the Lord to him for the blessing he needed. 
He could not do otherwise. And similarly, a definite 
act of obedience today will bring most blessed re- 
sults. 

Palsy or Paralysis. The case in Mark ii. 1-12, 
is very instructive, as showing two things. First, 
the value of faith on the part of others who are 
interested. Second, the close connection between 
pardon and power. The four friends brought the 



11.6 St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 

sick of the palsy to Christ. Finding there was no 
access the regular way, they tried the irregular way, 
and succeeded. Perseverance in getting a man into 
the presence of the Lord is often necessary. Seeing 
him laid before them, the Lord went straight to the 
root of the matter, namely, Sin, and said, "Son, thy 
sins are forgiven thee.'' 

Sin is the cause of paralysis. No action is 
possible, no victory over surroundings, only an utter 
giving in of helplessness. But when sin is pardoned, 
the result is — 

POWER TO OVERCOME. 

After the word pardon, the Lord said, "Rise and 
walk." This was to prove to the man himself, and 
to the large crowd of skeptical hearers, the truth of 
His first words. "That ye may know that the Son 
of man hath power on earth to forgive sins." How 
many, who profess to be forgiven, show no change 
in conduct, no victory over sinful habit, no altera- 
tion in the way they behave, in the associations they 
form. Power must follow Pardon. The Lord 
Jesus pardons, the Holy Spirit empowers. 

Take time with an enquirer to teach the baptism 
with the Holy Spirit as the next gift of God to par- 
don, and essential for the holy walk of victory. 

Lameness. The impotency of sin is set forth 
in John v. 1-9. The healing took place along the 



St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 117 

line of obedience of faith, "Arise, take up thy bed, 
and walk." The man tried to begin an explanation 
of his difficulties and disappointments, and expressed 
one of the commonest phases of hindrance, namely, 
waiting for some revival movement which may pro- 
duce the desired blessing. But the Lord cut it short 
by a command of love. The past cannot be argued 
about, nor the possibilities of the future discussed. 
The Lord commands the man to do the impossible, 
that which he has never done before, and with the 
bidding came the enabling. The Lord has new ways 
and new life for an obedient heart. 

Withered Hand. Mark iii. 1-5. How many a 
worker has ceased work through an injury! The 
Lord shows how He will renew the power to work, 
but it is a little costly. The cure took place in the 
middle of a synagogue service, before a large com- 
pany, some of whom were strongly opposed to the 
time, place, and method adopted. Not an uncom- 
mon difficulty, even now ! The man had to obey on 
two points — first, to "Stand forth," and next to 
"Stretch out his hand." Both were difficult, both 
were unpleasant, both were necessary. There are 
times when the confession of need and obedience 
in public is the method to be adopted, and thus the 
Lord is committed to His people by definite action. 
One danger is in making it too easy, in some cases, 
for blessing to be received. 



n8 St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 

Spinal Trouble. Luke xiii. 10-13. In this case 
and the foregoing, the Lord wrought His work be- 
fore the assembly of worshippers. The woman is 
here spoken of as "bound by Satan." Yet she was 
"a daughter of Abraham/' a phrase indicating she 
was a true believer in God and a devout worshipper. 
For eighteen years, she had been going to the syna- 
gogue, but had obtained no help. The suggestive 
line of thought here would be — Find out the op- 
pression of Satan; then whether the afflicted one is 
a true believer in the Lord. Next, show, from Isa. 
lxi. 1, 2, that deliverance of captives is part of His 
special work, and is given, as in so many other in- 
stances, to the obedient faith. The Lord is pre- 
pared to pronounce His 

"thou art loosed/'' 

as definitely now as then, in response to faith. It 
might have seemed thoughtless, misjudged, and un- 
sympathetic to make the woman descend from the 
gallery, walk up the floor of the synagogue, stand 
under the gaze of all. But then, "My ways are not 
your ways, neither are your thoughts My thoughts, 
saith the Lord." Are we prepared to seek more 
closely into a knowledge of His ways for each case 
as we may have to deal with ? It will mean courage 
and a breaking through the rules of conventionality. 



St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 119 

There may be many cases to whom it would be 
wrong to say, "You can be saved while sitting on 
that seat." Exactly the reverse may prove to be 
the truth. 

Dumbness accompanies Deafness. When the 
Ear is opened, the Tongue is loosed. Mark vii. 
32-37 records this case. The treatment was in 
private, away from the friends who brought him, and 
it included identification with the man's trouble. He 
touched the ears and the tongue. The Lord so ac- 
curately understands the location of all the trouble, 
and goes direct to the seat of it. How can we 
handle the deaf and dumb? Generally by getting 
them alone with the Lord, arid very tenderly but 
firmly touching what we know to be the sin of the 
life, reading this incident as the warrant for our 
action. 

It is a great secret of success to show a person his 
photograph in the Bible, and to show how such an 
one was helped by the Lord. "Faith cometh by 
hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." Nor 
telling incidents of other people's experience is the 
wise method, nor using illustrations, but pointing the 
mind to the Lord's action, and enforcing that Jesus 
Christ is the same today as He was yesterday, and 
will do the same things again. 

The Woman with the issue of blood (Mark 



120 St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 

vii. 25, 34) illustrates an unprompted act of faith, 
arising from her general observation. There are 
many who touch Him in the crowd unnoticed and 
unknown by us, but not by Him. He probably loves 
much those souls who approach Him all unobserved. 
What did she touch? The blue fringe at the hem 
of His garment — that which was the reminder, to 
the pious Jew, of the words in Numb. xv. 39, "that 
ye go not about after your own heart and your own 
eyes." He who wore the blue fringe was the only 
one who could say, "I came not to do Mine own 
will, but the will of Him that sent Me." Coming in 
contact, by faith, with the perfectly obedient one, 
who laid down His life for sin, gives perfect healing 
to a wasted life. It is 

THE LIFE OF GOD SURGING THROUGH 

the dying soul and suddenly expelling the defilement 
and enervation of sin. He is equally accessible to 
faith now as then. Suggest some of His promises 
as the fringe to be touched — they are from the Man 
from Heaven, and are full of "virtue." When "one 
who has touched" is discovered, an opportunity 
should be afforded for telling it out to others, fol- 
lowing the precedent in the Gospels, in order to the 
further blessing embodied in the words, "Thy faith 
hath made thee whole, go in peace, and be whole 
of thy plague." 



St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 121 

Group 3. — Over Death. 

Three cases of Resurrection are recorded. In 
Mark v. 42, is the story of the child of twelve just 
dead, Jairus' daughter. In Luke vii. n-17, the 
story of the son of the widow of Nain, who was 
being taken to his burial, and who therefore had 
been dead some longer time. The third case is that 
of Lazarus, in John xi., who had been dead four 
days. Death is the wages of sin — not "the debt of 
nature." It is unnatural to die; all living creation 
shrinks from it, and all races of humanity dread it. 
The dead person, whether child, young man, or 
middle-aged man, is representative of the universal 
condition of all, namely, "dead in trespasses and 
sins" (Eph. ii. 1). 

The voice of the living Jesus, the Son of God, 
alone could wake these dead ones. The voice of the 
living Lord, risen from the dead, and now heard in 
the soul, through the Holy Spirit, can now alone 
awake the dead soul. The quickening is in every 
case immediate and perfect, and there are the conse- 
quent immediate activities imparted for the new 
life. The little child is to eat; the young man is 
to take care of his mother; Lazarus is to be loosed 
and set free for serving his Lord and resuming the 
charge of the household. The possession of life in 



122 St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 

Christ, and from Christ, is for activity, not for some 
selfish indulgence. 

It may not be unwise to call attention to the fact 
that the raising of Lazarus presented more diffi- 
culties than that of the other two. So to bring a 
middle-aged person to life in Christ is a greater dif- 
ficulty than leading a child to Him. Habits have 
been formed ; grave-clothes of tradition are wrapped 
around; and a big stone of prejudice often blocks 
the way. 

Group 4. — Over Sword-cut. 

In Luke xxii. 49-53, we find the full record of this 
act of mercy, this sign of divine power. The hour 
of the betrayal had come, and the band, led by Judas, 
had arrested the Lord, and were about to lead Him 
away, when Peter sprang to the front, drew a sword, 
and began to act in defence of his Lord. He hit out, 
and cut off the ear of Malchus, the servant of the 
high priest. The Lord immediately stepped for- 
ward, with the w r ords, "Suffer ye thus far !" which 
meant "Let Me have the use of My hand a 
moment!" for they were tying His hands behind 
Him as a dangerous criminal. He begged a moment's 
respite in order to undo the mischief wrought by the 
impetuosity of one of His disciples. He must help 
an enemy, and show the disciples the meaning of His 



St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 123 

own teaching, "Love your enemies/' "Overcome evil 
with good." Are not some disciples just as eager 
and rash now with the sword of criticism and harsh 
judgment, feeling called upon to rush forward for 
the defence of the truth, with great and apparently 
holy zeal, but with how often plenty of "ear-split- 
ting," which needs such skilled healing from the 
touch of His hand ! Not always are sharp methods 
to be adopted, but rather the bearing and forbear- 
ing. It stirs those zealous for the orthodox truth 
to unwise action when some well-known disciple, 
supposed to be loyal, turns traitor and leads the 
unholy band of unbelievers to take the truth pris- 
oner ; but the Lord is Sovereign, and is well able to 
take care of His Word, and asks for our obedient 
patience and faith. 

Group 5. — Over Storms. 

Two narratives are given us of the Lord 
hushing Storms. On the first occasion, recorded 
in Mark iv. 35-41, He had given orders for all to 
cross over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. It 
was a treacherous lake for the sudden uprising of 
winds, that swept down over the placid surface of 
the water, and in an incredibly short time lashed it 
into dangerous waves. He was wearied with a long 
day's work of healing, prayer, and teaching, and had 



124 St- Mark: The Servant at Work. 

fallen asleep across the gunwale of the boat, in the 
stern end. When the danger became apparently very 
great, they awoke Him with the words, "Carest 
Thou not that we perish?'' Little were they aware 

"No storm can swallow the ship where lies 
The Master of ocean and earth and skies." 

He arose and immediately rebuked their unbelief, 
and the storm. The storm of fear and doubt in their 
hearts was a far more serious one than that of the 
w T ind without. So, today, the internal storms of 
fear in the hearts of disciples are more serious than 
the trials of external circumstances. We shall often 
need to hear His words : "Why are ye fearful ? have 
ye not yet faith ?" There was no excuse for their 
want of faith. They had seen and heard so much 
of His wondrous way of working that He finds no 
palliation for their attitude of mind. 

Behind us, lies the great miracle of Calvary; so 
there is still less excuse for our sinful fears in the 
midst of storm. The Lord is with us as really as 
He was with them. The miracle, then, is symbolical 
of this phase of the Church's history — her present 
voyage to the other side, and her need to trust her 
Lord, though He may sometimes be as one asleep 
and unaware of the present circumstances. 

On the second occasion (Mark vi. 45-54), He had 
gone up to the mountain top to pray, and had sent 



St. Mark: The Servant at Work. 125 

the disciples across before Him. It was evening 
when they started, and by midnight they were in the 
worst of the storm. In the fourth watch, namely, 
between 3 and 6 a. m., came Jesus walking on the 
water towards them, saying, "Peace, be still !" He 
hushed the raging waters with a word. The position 
of the disciples in the boat, toiling in rowing, is 
representative of the position of the Church of God 
today, pulling hard against the contrary winds of 
erroneous doctrine, of worldliness, and evil of all 
kinds. Some, too, are fighting the great gales of 
heathen opposition, and the progress is hardly per- 
ceptible amid the dark and dreary hours. Suddenly 
will come the Lord, walking on the stormy waters. 
It is a second Advent illustration and story. His 
coming will be immediate peace, and the hushing of 
all the storms that distract and threaten the very 
existence of His Church. He has bidden His people 
watch and wait for this. The Lord is with His 
people all the time they journey home; the Lord is 
coming for His people in the time of storm, to take 
them immediately into His presence. 



Chapter VII. 

ST. LUKE: THE MAN. 

His Prayerfulness, Humanity, Compassion. 

"Behold the Man." — John xix. 5. 

O T. LUKE gives us the Portrait of the Lord 
^ Jesus Christ as the Man amongst men, re- 
vealing his humanity, his sympathy, his authority. 

The Author. 

Of the writer, very little is known. He is gener- 
ally supposed to have been a Gentile by birth, and 
therefore a "Proselyte of the Gate." He is only 
mentioned in three places, namely, in Col. iv. 15; 2 
Tim. vi. 11, and Philemon 24. The first mention of 
his connection with the Apostle Paul is indicated in 
Acts xvi. 10, by the use of the word we. 

His narrative is a biography, in which he begins, 
as do all popular writers, with the birth and early 
years and the surroundings of the child. It is all so 
natural, simple, attractive, and interesting. And 
as he proceeds to unfold the life of this remarkable 
man, one cannot but be struck with the fact that it 
is the Man from heaven, the God-Man, whose story 
is being told. 

126 



St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 127 

Divisions. 

(a) Birth and early years, i., ii. 

(b) Ministry in Galilee, iii.-ix. 50. 

(c) Journeying from Galilee to Jerusalem, ix. 
51-xix. 2J. 

(d) The great week. Triumphal entry — to Cross 
xix. 28-xxiii. 

(e) Resurrection and Ascension, xxiv. 

Chapter Titles. 

I. Birth of Forerunner. 

II. Birth of the Saviour. 

III. Jesus introduced by John Baptist and Genealogy. 

IV. Conflict in Wilderness — Conflict in Synagogue. 
V. Gatdhing fish and catching men. 

VI. Choosing Apostles — Teaching Disciples. 
VII. Succouring a Centurion, a Widow, a Sinner. 
VIII. Meeting Storm, Demons, Death, Disease. 
IX. The Transfiguration. 

X. The Seventy — the Good Samaritan — the Bethany 
Home. 
XI. The Lord's Prayer — Meeting and rebuking Phari- 
saic Opposition. 
XII. No Fear— No Care— No Doubt— No Hoard. 

XIII. Loosing from Infirmity. 

XIV. Feasts and their Lessons. 
XV. The Lost Ones Found. 

XVT. The Self-seeking Ones Lost. 
XVII. Ten Lepers — Prophetic Discourse. 
XVIII. Unrighteous Judge — Self-righteous Pharisee — 
Young Ruler — Blind Beggar. 



128 St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 

XIX. Joy in a House — Tears over City. 

XX. Faithless Husbandmen — Puzzlers puzzled. 

XXL Things that will come to pass. 

XXII. The last Passover — Gethsemane. 

XXIII. Crucified between two Thieves. 

XXIV. Risen and Manifested 

The Key Verse is xv. 2 : 'This man receiveth 
sinners and eateth with them/' For illustrations 
of this, reference should be made to the feasts he at- 
tended in Matthew the tax-gatherer's house, in the 
house of Zacchaeus, another tax-gatherer; in the 
house of Simon, the Pharisee, where the sinful 
woman met with him ; and in the house of an un- 
named Pharisee, recorded in chap. xiv. Two of the 
marked features are Praise and Prayer, his presence 
kindling both, for He himself was always a man of 
praise to God and prayer for others. 

The contrast between this narrative and that of 
St. Matthew is very marked. The former opened 
with the wail of the mothers over their slain chil- 
dren; it continued with the story of his rejection 
by his nation, and concluded with the pronounce- 
ment of the sevenfold woes, and the foreview of 
the future history of the nation in accumulating 
sorrow. This was only fitting under the circum- 
stances, for the history of the nation of Messiah is 
one long tale of suffering on account of their sin 
in the rejection of Jehovah, and later of Jesus. St. 



St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men, 129 

Luke, on the other hand, gives us another side of 
the story, how the Son of man came to be the 
Saviour of mankind, and was rilled with the com- 
passion and pity of God. Wherever He is known, 
He will bring gladness, and will bring men nearer 
to God. This is one great purpose of his narrative. 
The praise notes will be found to be as follows : 

1. The Annunciation to Zacharias of the birth 
of a son, to be named John. It was the first kindling 
of hope in the hearts of those who watched and 
waited for the fulfilment of God's promises (i. 13- 

17). 

2. The Hail Mary ! the annunciation to the 
Virgin that she should be the mother of the Messiah 
(i- 28-33). 

3. Elizabeth's salutation to her cousin Mary; as, 
filled with the Holy Ghost, she gave praise to God 
for the coming wonders of His grace to them both. 
"Blessed is she that believed," is the keynote of 
this song. It is still the kevnote of all praise (i. 42- 

45)- 

4. The Magnificat ! Mary's response and praise 
to God for His mercy vouchsafed to her. The domi- 
nant note in her song is God's faithfulness to His 
own word of promise (i. 46-55). 

5. The Song of Zacharias, after the birth of 
John the Baptist, when his tongue, silent for nine 



130 St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 

months, is once more loosed, and he praises God. 
Unbelief closed it; faith opened it, and it com- 
menced thanksgiving and praise. The dominant 
note in his song is also the fulfilment of God's prom- 
ises ; and upon that the assurance of the further ac- 
complishment of His will according to His declared 
purposes, (i. 68-79). (Students of the Word of 
God should trace out, in this chapter's songs, all 
the allusions to, and quotations from, the Old Testa- 
ment Scriptures). 

6. The Angel's announcement, to the shepherds, 
of the birth of the Saviour, Christ the Lord, in 
Bethlehem (ii. 10-12). 

7. The choral son'g of the heavenly host that 
followed the announcement to the shepherds. 
Heaven and earth have united their songs of praise 
for the advent of the Redeemer (ii. 14). 

8. Old Simeon's song of praise as he held the 
infant Jesus in his arms and said, "Now lettest Thou 
Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy 
Word.*' Once more it is the faithfulness of God 
to His Word that causes this thanksgiving (ii. 29- 
32). 

9. Anna, the Prophetess, coming in at that 
moment, added her tribute of praise, for she spake 
of Him to all that looked for the redemption of 
Jerusalem (ii. 38). 



St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 131 

Next must be traced a series of incidents in which 
the phrase glorifying God occurs as shewing the 
effect of the Lord's words and works upon the 
people. It will be an ever-increasing chain of 
praise. 

10. The shepherds who went to Bethlehem and 
found even as the angels had said, returned glorify- 
ing and praising God (ii. 20). 

11. The sick of the palsy, after he was healed, 
departed to his house glorifying and praising God 
(v. 25). 

12. The praise was contagious, for amazement 
took hold on all, and they glorified God, and were 
filled with fear (v. 26). It was the unexpected 
presence in power of the Man from heaven, full of 
divine compassion, in strong contrast to those recog- 
nized teachers of divinity, who had done their best 
to bar the way of any to the Lord; so that it had 
been found necessary to get the paralyzed man to 
the feet of the Saviour by the irregular way of 
tearing a hole in the roof, and so letting him down. 

13. When the Lord had raised the dead son of 
the widow of Nain, the crowd standing by glorified 
God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen amongst 
us, and God hath visited His people." It was the 
echo of the song of Zacharias in i. 68 and 78. Life 
from the dead is only by the visitation of God, and 



132 St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 

so when the Son of God shall return, He will sum- 
mon all the departed in the faith to meet Him, and 
what a great host will then glorify God (vii. 16). 

14. Jesus laid His hands on the woman who had 
been oppressed by Satan for eighteen years, and 
made her straight, and immediately she glorified 
God. This uncommon and unorthodox proceeding of 
a woman being heard praising God in a synagogue, 
so incensed the ruler of the synagogue, that he ut- 
tered stern rebuke. But it was of no avail. When 
the Lord God is present, all human rules must be, 
and will be, set aside for the deliverance of captives, 
and for the glory of God. But the effect is that no 
flesh can glory in His presence, and this is what 
rouses antagonism from the enemy (xiii. 13). 

15. The ten lepers had cried out to Him for 
mercy, and had obtained it. One of them, who was 
a Samaritan, returned, and with a loud voice glori- 
fied God. One wonders whether that loud voice was 
met by any criticism in those days by bystanders, as 
it does sometimes in our days. How afraid many 
are of the impropriety of hearty audible praise to 
God. Anyhow, cleansed lepers, who long have 
groaned audibly over their helpless misery, may well 
be splendidly vocal when touched and cleansed by 
the power of God (xvii. 15). 

16. The next case is that of blind Bartimeus, 



St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 133 

who, when cured of his blindness, caught sight of 
Jesus for the first time, and glorified God, and fol- 
lowed the Lord. Well he might, seeing he had been 
so helpless all his life. Now he is free from the 
bondage of blindness and darkness, and he walks in 
the light and follows the light (xviii. 43). 

17. This case was also contagious, for all the 
people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God. 
How could they help it? It was so delightful to 
see the joy and gladness of their poor neighbour 
(xviii. 43). 

18. The Centurion, who was the officer in charge 
of the regiment that kept the ground for the cruci- 
fixion, was the first answer to the Lord's prayer of : 
"Father, forgive them." He had watched all 
through those hours of darkness, had heard all the 
utterances from those blessed lips, and had no doubt 
been awe-struck with the conversation between 
Jesus and the thief, and when the end came with 
its unexpected swiftness, and solemn cry of anguish, 
he exclaimed, "Certainly this was a righteous man/' 
and this is spoken of as glorifying God. It was the 
acknowledging of the truth as far as he could per- 
ceive it ; and at the risk of losing all by practically 
taking sides with a condemned criminal, he found 
eternal life, and was the first trophy of grace won 
by the death of the Lord for sinners (xxiii. 47). 



134 St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 

19. The Gospel closes with the disciples return- 
ing from the Mount of Ascension with great joy, 
blessing God. They had received the parting bless- 
ing from the uplifted hands of the departing Lord, 
and, filled with that blessing, they begin anew to 
send it back in worship to God from whom it came 
(xxiv. 53). 

Glorifying God is always the result of joy in God, 
the joy of salvation. In Chap, xv., the great chap- 
ter of salvation, three times is joy introduced. In 
ver. 7, There shall be joy in heaven over a repenting 
sinner. In ver. 10, There is joy in the presence of the 
angels of God over a repenting sinner. In ver. 32, It 
was meet to make merry and be glad. Joy is in all 
three tenses ; it is eternal in the presence of God. 

Throughout this study, it is important to see that 
in every case, God is glorified, and no mention is 
made of the Lord Jesus Himself. He directed at- 
tention to God; His words and works made men 
think of God, speak of God, and honour God. Thus 
He is the True Man, that draws no attention to 
Himself, and proves His* deity by His selflessness. 
In proportion to our drawing attention to God, we 
are like Jesus. 

JESUS A MAN OF PRAYER. 

This writer gives us ten different occasions on 
which the Lord offered prayer. 



St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 135 

1. "J esus also having been baptized and praying, 
the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit de- 
scended upon Him" (iii. 21). This is instructive 
for us in connection with our need for the mani- 
festation again and again of the presence and power 
of that same Spirit in answer to prayer. 

2. After cleansing the leper, "He withdrew 
Himself into the deserts and prayed" (v. 16). He 
had been in contact with the needs and sorrows 
and infections of sinners, and required the change 
of air into the presence of the Father to renew His 
energy and feed His life. His action is full of ex- 
ample for the workers today amongst the lost and 
fallen. 

3. "He continued all night in prayer, and when 
it was day, He called His disciples, and He chose 
from them twelve, whom also He named Apostles" 
(vi. 12). How important this event was in His 
mind, the choice of those who were to be with Him ! 
How strange would sound a pulpit announcement, 
some Sunday, in which the minister asked the mem- 
bers of the church to meet him for a half-night of 
prayer, as there were two or three teachers needed 
in the Sunday-school ! He would be thought to be 
losing his senses, and yet he might only be found 
following, a little more closely than usual, in the 
Master's footsteps, in the method of selection of 



136 St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 

certain to be sent out to teach others the way of life. 
May there not lie here a secret as to the cause of the 
inefficiency of so much Sunday-school teaching, in 
that the teachers are not selected in answer to defi- 
nite prayer. 

4. "As He was praying, the disciples were with 
Him" (ix. 18). Here we have only the mention of 
the bare fact that He was engaged in private prayer, 
and afterwards entered into conversation with the 
disciples with regard to the impressions produced by 
His ministry. 

5. "And as He was praying, the fashion of His 
countenance was altered, and His raiment became 
white and dazzling" (ix. 29). Here, at the trans- 
figuration, as at the baptism, whilst in prayer, the 
heavens were opened over His soul, and He became 
filled with the glory of God manifestly. How shall 
we be transfigured? We are commanded to be so 
in Rom. xii. 2, where the word "transformed" is 
the same as "transfigured" in this history of our 
Lord. It will only be by prayer, much sustained and 
continuous prayer unto God, until He shall answer 
by the mighty transfiguring power of the Indwelling 
Spirit. Xo doubt the three disciples heard some of 
those prayers, for apparently the Lord generally 
prayed audibly, and thus kindled in others the pray- 
ing spirit. What a mighty privilege to have heard 



St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 137 

the prayer ascending, and seen something of the 
answer descending upon Him. If we were awake 
spiritually, should we not see more of the same trans- 
figuring power at work today? 

6. "As He was praying, in a certain place, when 
He ceased, one of His disciples said unto Him, Lord 
teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples" 
(xi. 1). Then follows the well-known Lord's 
prayer, which has been used by disciples all down 
the centuries. Here again we see the effect of audi- 
ble prayer on those listening. How He must have 
poured out His heart to God for them, for the 
crowds He had been mingling with, for the nation, 
for the sick He had healed. It must have been a 
wonderful stream of intercession that those men 
listened to, which took them to the very Holy of 
Holies. No wonder they asked to be taught to 
pray. 

7. "Simon, Simon, behold Satan asked to have 
you, that he might sift you as wheat, but I have 
prayed for thee that thy faith fail not" (xxii. 32). 
Here we have the Lord perceiving the plan of attack 
by Satan upon His disciples, and mentioned one of 
them by name to the Father. If then, how much 
more often since, may He not have mentioned names 
of those whom He has seen in places of dire tempta- 
tion and difficulty, and ^succoured them. He is the 



138 St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 

same, and He ever liveth to make intercession for 
us also. 

8. In the garden of Gethsemane, we have the 
threefold prayer, consequent on the threefold attack 
made by Satan upon Him, and the threefold deliv- 
erance vouchsafed to Him by the Father (xxii. 41). 
Into that deep mystery of sorrow and suffering, we 
cannot now penetrate, but it is enough to note how 
He prayed, and with what earnestness, being in an 
agony. And was heard in that He feared, or for 
His godly fear. He said, "Abba Father/' and St. 
Paul tells us that God hath sent forth the Spirit 
of His Son in our hearts whereby we cry Abba 
Father. The Gethsemane language is passed on to 
us for similar use. 

9. From the cross came the great prayer which 
has echoed down the centuries, "Father, forgive 
them, for they know not what they do" (xxiii. 34). 
Then the whole heart of the Lord went out to His 
enemies. That prayer was answered in the conver- 
sion of the Centurion in charge of the guard on 
the ground, and as the Lord died he confessed Him 
before all. It was a magnificent triumph of the 
power of God amid all the awful scenes of opposi- 
tion and hatred, and a glorious answer to the dying 
Lord's prayer. 



St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 139 

10. The closing prayer was, "Father, into Thy 
hands I commit My Spirit" (xxiii. 4). It was His 
last utterance in the ears of men. He had finished 
the work, ending with the hiding of the Father's 
face, and now He once more says, "Father." He 
passed away from the midst through the gate of 
death, and now He lives to renew that blessed occu- 
pation in heaven. 

FACTS PECULIAR TO THE GOSPEL. 

This Gospel, recording, as it does, features of 
the Lord's life to bring clearly out the humanity of 
the Person, will be found to contain facts not else- 
where described, which will most vividly illustrate 
this. The following are the most striking of these, 
and will show His humanity, compassion, tender- 
ness, and power. If never man spake like this Man, 
then also never men wrought like this Man. His 
word and His work as Man were exquisitely full of 
the love and power of God. What should this mean 
for us? Simply that if we are receiving of His 
Spirit, then we may — nay, are to, reproduce similar 
lives of tenderness, grace, and power amongst the 
sorrow-stricken, sinful, heavy-laden and worldly 
ones surrounding us now. 

I. THE DETAILS SURROUNDING HlS INFANCY. 

The writer gives so beautifully the old friends of the 



140 St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 

Child, such as Simeon and Anna. Then we have 
the shepherds taking their flocks up to Jerusalem 
for sacrificial purposes, announcing the arrival of 
the Messiah in Bethlehem as the first evangelists of 
the Lord ; and probably preparing the minds of the 
temple worshippers for His arrival shortly for the 
purposes of fulfilling the law. Their story would 
be to quicken faith and expectation immensely, and 
put the watchers on the look-out for the advent. 
Should not the shepherds of the flock of God today 
be more and more acting as the heralds of the 
second advent, and be thus preparing those who 
are more or less on the look-out? 

2. The one event of His boyhood. In chapter 
ii. 41-52, is the narrative of the first visit to the 
temple, to attend Passover, and the closing scene of 
it, when He was for three days lost to His mother. 
The whole story is so human, so tender — the active 
mind of the boy, the keen interest in the wonderful 
surroundings, the anxious inquiries, the charm of 
such an intelligent seeker after truth amongst those 
teachers, the forgetfulness almost as to how time 
was going, the surprise in His voice and manner 
when He hears His mother has been seeking Him 
sorrowing, the unconscious position of the child, and 
yet the absorbing nature of the things which had 
so completely filled His vision, as His real relation 



St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 141 

to things around Him was evidently beginning to 
dawn upon Him in a new way — Who He was, 
whence He came, and what was His mission in 
this world? Yet behind it all, there is the utter 
submission to the will of His parents, so that, al- 
though He had in His mind chosen to undertake the 
business of teacher, to which He felt, in His inmost 
soul, God had called Him, He makes no further 
utterance about it, but goes back to Nazareth, there 
to be apprenticed to the business of carpenter, and 
give His first illustration of what He afterwards so 
frequently taught, that He had not come down to 
do His own will. This was the first step in that 
pathway which closed with the prayer in Gethse- 
mane: "Not as I will, but as Thou wilt." 

3. The Nazareth synagogue scene, iv. 16-30. 
Where He had been brought up, He would be best 
known. Where He was best known, He would be 
least approved. It was so with Him — the Perfect 
One; how much more with those who can lay no 
claim to perfection ! There is always a heavy dis- 
count taken off all we do, and say, and are, where 
we are best known, as a rule. Why? It is human 
nature to despise the fellow-townsman, especially if 
he shows some faculties a little above the average, 
and more so, if he turns out to be a friend of God. 
Probably both these elements were present in Nazar- 



142 St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 

eth. His reading of Scripture, so manifestly point- 
ing to Himself, His explanation of it in the words, 
"This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears' 3 
made such a feeling of wonder first, of intense ex- 
citement, that a young man, a carpenter, so well 
known, should dare to suggest He was the Messiah 
of prophecy, followed by a few terse statements 
pointing out the sovereignty of God in selecting 
Gentiles of old to be the recipients of His grace, all 
this roused the bitterness, and led to the first wilful 
attempt, on the part of those who were His kith and 
kin, to destroy Him, or at least to maim Him. It 
is a terribly sad picture, but a true one, of human 
nature. He, however, being full of grace, showed 
no resentment or anger, but passed away, shielded 
by an invisible power, and ready to repeat all He 
might, elsewhere, that would be for the blessing of 
His poor people. The story is full of incident that 
needs, and will repay, careful study. 

4. The evening meal in the house of Simon 
the Pharisee. Chap. vii. Here we have an illus- 
tration of a thought uttered, not many years ago, 
by an eminent servant of God, who said, "A man's 
character is known by the way he treats Jesus." 
Simon evidently had but a poor idea of the open-air 
preacher, for such Jesus was. A good man for the 
masses, no doubt; one who might be popular 



St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 143 

amongst them, and might do some very useful work, 
but not the kind of man for the upper classes in so- 
ciety. Yet in this house there met, strangely and 
accidentally, a member of the ruling class and a 
member of the very lowest class, and between them 
was some One who was equally at His ease with 
both, and could speak to both with equal authority 
and power. The presence of Jesus is always awkward 
for the Pharisee, blessed for the sinner. His pres- 
ence disclosed two striking facts hitherto unknown. 
It brought out the patronage and ignorance of the 
Pharisee, and at the same time disclosed the faith 
and broken-heartedness of the poor sinner, who 
must have heard those lips proclaiming in the open 
air: "Come unto me . and I will give you rest" 
How seldom does the preacher practise what he 
preaches ! Here is One who can, and will ; and the 
needy sinner will find it out for herself. In the nar- 
rative, notice how tenderly He handles her, how 
quickly He relieves her, how easy He makes it for 
her. At the same time, how unsparing are His words 
to His host; how He shows him up before all the 
other guests round the table, in his true character, 
being guilty of refusing him common civility in the 
"no water for my feet;" of refusing Him common 
friendship in the "no kiss;" and refusing Him all 
honor as His guest in the "no oil for my head." 



144 St Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 

The two characters come out in the two treatments 
He received. Patronage without faith will produce 
no message of pardon of sin, for there is no con- 
viction of sin in the heart of the Pharisee. Faith, 
with a broken heart, will demand and obtain the 
word of pardon, with an accompanying word of 
power, "Go in peace!' The writer has caught the 
whole scene correctly. He has pictured the com- 
passion and the tenderness towards the broken reed ; 
he has drawn the patience and fearlessness and re- 
buke in all love and yearning toward the self- 
righteous man. 

5. Sending out the seventy into every city 
and place whither He Himself would come. Chap, 
x. Here is the yearning heart for the multitudes, 
the best way to prepare them for His arrival 
amongst them, the kindly w T ise thought to send so 
many men who knew Him and His methods and 
message, so that when He would go, there would 
be a large measure of preparedness and readiness 
to receive. Here is seen the true humanity in ac- 
customing people to Him, though He is from God. 

6. The Bethany home. Chap. x. How one 
lingers in fancy round this scene of rest, welcome, 
homeliness, and loving care. Yet where He is 
Guest, He is also Master. He speaks with author- 
ity. He uses His opportunities for teaching of God. 
He welcomes an audience of one, and pours into 



St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 145 

her listening ear things concerning the kingdom of 
God she would never otherwise have heard. How 
much is lost by not giving the Lord opportunities 
of talking to us alone, with no one to interrupt or 
distract ! The well-known story is amongst the oft- 
misquoted passages. How frequently we have 
heard it said, and emphasized, Mary had chosen the 
better part. Yet such was not the utterance at all 
of the Lord. He drew no comparison between the 
two sisters. He said Mary had chosen the good 
part. It was the part of receiving, while she had 
given Him the place of giving, which is always His 
place of blessing. When we try and make Him 
receiver of our attentions and gifts, we displace 
Him. "It is more blessed to give than to receive," 
is true of Him first and foremost. Let Him always 
have that position, and He will always occupy it, 
and then we shall have Mary's place of receiving, 
which is the good part. 

This is more important than service, but gives 
the best preparation for effective and successful 
service. This may seem a hard saying to a naturally 
bustling, busy, energetic nature, which has the fac- 
ulty of organizing work cleverly. 

7. TWO BROTHERS ASKING HlM TO ARBITRATE. 

Chap. xii. Much is said, nowadays, as to the 
social side and teaching of Jesus. It is made out 
that He was a great social reformer, and came to 
j 



146 St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 

inaugurate great reforms that should benefit the 
human race. In one sense, yes — this is true, but 
not wholly so. The grave question is, What is the 
order of procedure as laid down by Him? Did He 
ever interfere with social or political matters? The 
answer is, No. He refused to attend to such matters, 
even when brought immediately under His notice. 
Here is a case in point. Two brothers have a quar- 
rel over property left by a father. One is suffering 
at the hands of the other, who refuses to act justly 
in the distribution of the property. In the appeal to 
the Lord, it would have appeared that He would 
have acted as arbitrator in order to set a wrong 
right. But He refused, and in doing so brought out 
clearly that He was not here to act as Judge and 
Divider in the matter of earthly wealth, but had far 
more important things to talk about; also, that in 
so many cases, the "love of more," or covetousness, 
was the great bane of human lives, seeing that men 
were a hundred times more keen after earthly good 
than after spiritual good. Then followed one of the 
parables only found in this gospel, generally called 
by the title, "The rich fool." Here is wise firmness, 
a determination not to allow any circumstances, how- 
ever important in themselves, to deter Him from 
pursuing His one great mission — namely, to save 
the lost, and make atonement for sin. Till that has 



St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 147 

been done, till He has been accepted as the sent One 
from God, to handle the great fact of sin, He can 
give, and will give, no attention to anything else. 

•He is an absorbed Saviour. Once He was offered 
all the kingdoms of the world with their power and 
glory by the Prince of this world, in return for an 
act of worship. But He could not thus be tempted. 
What would an unredeemed world be worth to Him 
or to God? On another occasion, He was offered 
the kingdom of the Jewish nation by the people 
themselves. But of what value would that have 
been, seeing the nation was an unforgiven, unre- 
pentant nation? Now He is offered a position of 
Judgeship by an individual. But He will not touch 
it, because the litigants have greater difficulties to 
get settled with regard to the law of God in the 
heart. There can be no easy or human road to the 
throne. It can only be by the way of the Cross, and 
by the will of God. 

8. The conversion of Zacchaeus. Chap. xix. 
Here is a simple scene of Divine compassion towards 
one for whom no one cared much, but rather hated, 
for his connection with the Roman government. But 
Jesus saw a human hungry heart underneath; He 
loved him, and had wondrous compassion on him. 
The arrest of the procession, the recognizing the fact 
that curiosity was an avenue to the man's mind and 
heart, the sharp, short, emphatic, business-like way 



148 St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 

in which Jesus addressed him, the simple result in 
his obedience, all went to make a profound impres- 
sion, and to result in Zacchseus' conversion to God. 
Up till that hour, the love of money had taken pos- 
session of his soul and life, and the man was good 
for nothing else. How suddenly all was changed, 
and the covetous man has become a liberal man and 
a righteous one, too. 

9. And now we come close up to the end of 
the life of the Saviour to notice some few events that 
have touched deeply the writers heart. The weep- 
ing over Jerusalem. Chap. xix. 40, 41. Those tears 
of sorrow are nowhere else mentioned. Some one 
must have described them to Luke, and made much 
of them. How He wept, when all seemed so bright 
and promising ! How suddenly the scene of appar- 
ent triumph changed to one of almost appalling sad- 
ness ! The compassion of the Lord is nowhere more 
marked than in this strange event. He knew the 
fickleness of the crowd. He knew the intense hate 
of the rulers, and how easily they would influence 
the multitude to disbelieve Him, and disown Him. 
His eye saw it all, not with anger, but with infinite 
pity and love, and with the clear prescience of what 
was only a few years off — namely, the overthrow of 
the city, the fulfilment of those awful prophecies in 
Deuteronomy, and the destruction of the national 
life and hope. It could not be helped. If it could 



St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 149 

have been, it would have been. But the Scripture 
must be fulfilled, and there can be no averting the 
wrath of God concerning a rejected Messiah, and a 
rejected Holy Spirit. He knew it; He sorrowed 
over it ; His heart wept its true tears of love. 

10. The weeping women. Chap, xxiii. 28. 
Such a crowd of them recognized Him as the Bene- 
factor of their homes and families, and were filled 
with pity and grief. He saw and heard it all, but 
checked it with His unexpected words, "Weep not 
for Me, but weep for yourselves/' He asked no 
pity, but He longed for them to be delivered from 
impending judgment. It was the knowledge of their 
state before God, and the impending doom, that they 
needed, and this He would try and convince them of. 

11. The first prayer from the Cross. Chap, 
xxiii. 34. "Father, forgive them, for they know 
not what they do." Here again gushes from that 
heart of Divine and eternal love nothing but yearn- 
ing for the salvation of His bitterest persecutors. 
His is "a heart at leisure from itself," and He pours 
it out in prayer, when any other heart would have 
been too much occupied with its own awful woes to 
have prayed for others. 

12. The dying thief. Chap, xxiii. 42, 43. This 
most exquisite and touching fact is only found in 
this Gospel. It was the same Jesus pouring out His 



150 St Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 

heart's love and mercy, and with it His power to 
save at the very extremity of man's need. Seeking 
to save when there was no one to save or pity Him. 
Snatching a trophy from the enemy's grip at the 
last impossible moment, and triumphing over death 
in death. 

13. Lastly, we notice the walk to Emmaus 
in chap. xxiv. The quiet friendship, the tender in- 
quiry as to the cause of sadness, the patient forbear- 
ance with the ignorance of the disciples, the long 
and magnificent exposition of the Scriptures in the 
things concerning Himself, the response to the press- 
ing invitation to come in and share the evening meal 
— all tell us of His humanity and love. The Risen 
Lord is the very same Jesus. Then came the sudden 
flash of His true personality in the act of breaking 
the bread, the revelation of deity — the consciousness 
of His resurrection from the dead, and the opening 
of eyes, heart, and understanding. 

The Miracles. 

An examination of the miracles recorded only by 
this writer, will add further testimony to the vision 
given of the compassion and tenderness that are so 
distinctly characteristic. They are six in number : 

1. The miraculous draught of fish. v. 1-11. 
This was His way of paying for the hire of Simon 



St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 151 

Peter's boat as a pulpit; and the payment was like 
Him, unexpected, lavish, and royal, and accompa- 
nied by an extra word of blessing : "Fear not; from 
henceforth thou shalt catch men." 

2. The raising of the widow of Nains son. vii. 
11-16. The details given show His insight into 
the peculiar sorrow of the widow, and it was as if 
He purposely timed His journey to meet the funeral 
procession and turn it back. He turned sorrow into 
joy, and gave a garment of praise for the spirit of 
heaviness. 

3. The healing of the bowed womcm in the syna- 
gogue, xiii. 11-17. His quick eye detected her in the 
synagogue gallery, and He summoned her to the 
front, that He might lift the bondage of eighteen 
years, and brighten those closing years with the 
light of God. 

4. The dropsy case. xiv. 2-4. This was a 
memento of a visit paid; how He loves to leave 
traces of His presence where He has been invited 
and entertained. 

5. The ten lepers, xvii. 11-19. An open-air 
scene; a response to an urgent cry of distress, an 
opportunity for showing the power of God, and a 
lesson in faith to the disciples. 

6. Healing the ear of Malchus. xxii. 49-53. 
This was His last act of mercy just as the band sent 



152 St. Luke: The Man Amongst Men. 

to take Him were tying His hands behind Him. He 
cannot bear to see the effects of the ill-timed, hasty 
blow. He will repair the damage of his over-zealous 
disciple. 

In all His ways and words, what tenderness and 
love were displayed, and that true matchless human- 
ity through which God was revealed to the hearts 
of men and women ! 



Chapter VIII. 
ST. LUKE : THE MAN. 

A Prophet — Teaching of God, of Sin and of 
Prayer. 

THE work of a Prophet is three-fold: Forth- 
telling — that is, speaking forth the words 
of another, in the hearing of those for whom the 
message is meant. For-telling — that is, telling for 
another, on behalf of, and by the command of, 
another. Fore-telling — In the message from God 
there cannot fail to be the element of the future 
introduced. The principal topic of a prophet's mes- 
sage is the relation of God to sin and the sinner. 
There will be the attitude of God toward sin, and 
toward the sinner; God's treatment of sin, and of 
the sinner; the necessity of obedience on the part 
of the sinner; the results, to the sinner, of disobedi- 
ence. The teaching will deal with, What is man? 
how has he fallen and become helpless under sin ? 

The Prophet, the Man of God, must be abso- 
lutely fearless in the delivery of His message; He 
must be quite clear as to w T hat He has to say, out- 
spoken, and truthful ; whilst He must be thoroughly 
sympathetic with the message He brings, and with 

iS3 



154 St. Luke: The Prophet Teaching Men. 

those to whom He brings it. Much of what He says 
will need explanation; it will startle and puzzle His 
hearers. He moist, therefore, be patient: ready to 
explain, to repeat, to answer questions. He must 
bear in mind that He has not so much to adapt His 
message to His hearers as to teach them to adapt 
themselves to His message, and so be touched and 
helped by it. He must bring the great thoughts of 
God into human language, that they may be under- 
stood and believed. He must be equally at home 
with all classes of society, not cringing to the upper 
classes or patronizing the lower classes. He must 
get alongside of every one as God's messenger, 
showing the same interest and solicitude for each 
one apart from social position. Has He to reprove, 
rebuke, exhort? has He to warn, condemn, threaten? 
It may be more difficult amongst some than others ; 
yet He must be faithful and unbiassed. Has He 
words of sympathy, advice, commendation, encour- 
agement? He must show how fully He enters into 
God's reasons and gracious thoughts, that He may 
reflect somewhat the character of Him whose servant 
He is. 

How perfectly and naturally Jesus did all this! 
How absolutely at His ease He was under all cir- 
cumstances, and how perfectly He adapted Himself 
to all classes; and yet how absolutely He and His 



St. Luke: The Prophet Teaching Men. 155 

message were one ! He never spoke as a messenger 
merely, but always as One who knew God and the 
meaning of His message. 

The parables that are found in this Gospel will il- 
lustrate all these features more distinctly than do the 
parables in St. Matthew, whose group was so dis- 
tinctly dispensational, dealing with a very different 
series of truths. The kingdom of heaven — offered, 
rejected, in mystery, in manifestation — may be con- 
sidered the great topic of St. Matthew's series of 
parables. The dealing of God with the sinner, and 
of the sinner with God, may be taken as the subject- 
matter of St. Luke's parables. 

In all, there are twenty-two prominent parables 
in this Gospel, fifteen of which are peculiar to the 
writer. The seven found elsewhere are — 

The Sower. 

The Mustard Seed. 

The Leaven. 

The Wine-skins. 

The Patched Garment. 

The Lost Sheep. 

The Vineyard and Unfaithful Husbandmen. 

The first three of these appear in Matt, xiii., and 
the other four seem to have been isolated parables, 
suggested by special circumstances, and in some 
cases appear to have been repeated on different oc- 



156 St. Luke: The Prophet Teaching Men, 

casions. This would be the case with regard to the 
Lost Sheep, Mustard Seed and Leaven. (Compare 
the accounts in the two Gospels). 

The Key Verse of the Gospel, "This man receiv- 
eth sinners, " will receive its amplification in the way 
He talks to them about sin and its forgiveness, its 
penalty, its power, etc. 

The following plan of a group of ten will best 
serve to make the suggestion plain. They fall into 
two sections of five each, the first five showing the 
bright side of sin forgiven and the consequences; 
the other five showing the dark side of sin unfor- 
given, because unrepented of, and the results that 
must follow. (See Diagram on page 157.) 

In studying these parables, it will be essential 
to carefully note the contexts, the circumstances 
that gave rise to the teaching. The contrast between 
the attitude towards Him of Simon the Pharisee 
and the sinful woman drew forth the story of the 
Two Debtors. The scornful interrogation by the 
young lawyer as to how to inherit eternal life, drew 
forth the Good Samaritan, in order to make the 
lawyer think for himself what should be his atti- 
tude towards 1 the Lord Jesus. The favourite 15th 
chapter, from which more Gospel addresses have 
been given than from any other chapter in the book, 
should not be dissociated from the 16th chapter. 





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158 St. Luke: The Prophet Teaching Men. 

The two seem to be a continuous series of instruc- 
tions as to the acceptance and rejection of the truth. 

Three classes of hearers are gathered round 
the Teacher, the largest consisting of tax-gatherers 
and sinners, the general crowd of careless, irreligi- 
ous people. The second and much smaller group 
was composed of scribes and Pharisees — the re- 
ligious, wealthy, educated higher class, who were 
in control of the affairs of the country — an exclu- 
sive, proud, and unreachable set, intensely opposed 
to any change in matters religious, and considering 
themselves to be the guardians of divine truth. 
They were the principal money-making people, un- 
principled in commercial matters, oppressive and 
grasping. The third group was composed of the 
inner circle of the Lord's disciples, for whose guid- 
ance many things were said and done, that they 
might learn of Him the things of God, as the future 
evangelists and preachers. The Lord, in these chap- 
ters, drew pictures of men as He found them, and 
as they thought of themselves, not as they ought to 
have been. 

The Portrait of Tax-gatherers and Sinners. 
He portrays them as wandering, helpless, bewild- 
ered, out of sight, sensuous, vicious, wilfully sin- 
ning; these features would include all sorts before 
Him, and amongst them the very poorest — beggars, 



St. Luke: The Prophet Teaching Men. 159 

perchance, — in whom might be some faith in God, 
some hope for the future. All these would easily 
and eagerly recognize themselves and one another 
in the rapidly-succeeding stories. 

The Portrait of the Pharisees and Scribes. 
There were "just persons that need no repentance" 
in their own estimation. They were like the nine 
pieces of silver that were apparently safe, and yet 
that might be disturbed by the same power that had 
already meddled with the one piece. They were 
like the elder son, who said, "Lo these many years 
do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time 
thy commandment/' Such language was familiar 
from their lips, and the crowd of listeners would 
instinctively recognize the description as fitting this 
class. 

What is the message of the Gospel to the large 
crowd? The patient seeking and yearning for them 
as the shepherd for his lost sheep ; the diligent search 
for the lost ones, as the woman with her candle and 
broom; the same welcome back into the presence 
of God as that given to the repenting son; the 
blessed reception of the poorest believer after death 
into the realm of Hades, known as "Abraham's 
bosom/' The whole impression was that of the love 
of God caring for the sinner, seeking to save, and 
preparing to welcome the repentant ones. Notice 



160 St. Luke: The Prophet Teaching Men. 

the use of the word "repent," in the parables of the 
Lost Sheep and the Lost Silver, in which there 
could be no such act of the will, and the illustration 
of repentance in the Lost Son, where the word is 
not used. No wonder they "drew near" and that 
He "received them." His words melted, suited, 
cheered them, and at the same time He exposed 
the hypocrisies and frauds of the ruling class. 

What is the message of God to the Pharisees? It 
was the ruthless exposure of their practice versus 
their profession, the "friends" of the elder brother, 
as much outside the father's house as the riotous 
friends of the younger one. Then followed the un- 
veiling of the religious practices, given in the parable 
of the Unjust Steward, namely, the lowering the 
standard of obligation, reducing the amount of in- 
debtedness, making out that God required too much, 
in order to gain friendships and make things easier 
in the future. Later on, the Lord accused them of 
neglecting the weightier matters of law, righteous- 
ness, and judgment. 

The difficulty in the parable is the utterance of the 
Lord in verse 9: "And I say unto you, Make to 
yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteous- 
ness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into 
the eternal tabernacles." The words are addressed 
to the Pharisee class, in what may be called a holy 



St. Luke: The Prophet Teaching Men. 161 

sarcasm, and are not to be taken, as so often one has 
heard, as an instruction to make good use of money 
in this world, in view of the world to come. The 
phrase "mammon of unrighteousness" indicates 
money wrongly gotten, "tainted money;" and the 
challenge is, "Go on making this if you will, and 
make friends by means of it, for hereafter you and 
your friends must be together." Rather it would 
point to the fact that however successful and pros- 
perous these men appear to be in their worldly af- 
fairs, there will be a place of eternal abode, after 
this life, of a very different nature; and then the 
Lord lifted the veil in the closing parable, and 
showed the "eternal tabernacles" of the prosperous, 
wealthy Pharisee. His profession of religion would 
be of no avail there. The simple faith and repent- 
ance of a Lazarus will take him out of his earthly 
sorrow, that has been so utterly ignored by the 
wealthy Pharisee; and now he is comforted, while 
the other is tormented. It was a tremendous, awful 
exposure; it was scathing in its vehemence, and 
yet it was the highest manifestation of love and 
grace thus to reveal so clearly the purposes of a 
holy God. The Prophet is seen as the true man of 
God in concealing nothing for fear of giving offence. 

A few words on the question of "torment" in this 
parable. In the Revised Version, anguish is used to 



162 St. Luke: The Prophet Teaching Men. 

translate the Greek word. This same word is other- 
wise translated as follows : Matt. xiii. 6, "grievously 
tormented/' used of the helplessness of paralysis; 
Matt. xiv. 24, the disciples in the boat were tossed 
with the waves ; here is the idea of restlessness and 
weariness in a storm that no human efforts could 
remedy; Mark vi. 48, toiling in rowing, here the 
idea is the uselessness of effort in attempting to 
make any headway against the storm ; no possibility 
of getting out of the circumstances of the storm ; 2 
Peter ii. 7, Lot was vexed with the filthy conversa- 
tion of the wicked ; the spiritual side of the man is 
stirred by his surroundings, which nothing on his 
part can alter. Now transfer these ideas to Luke 
xvi. and we get this combination of helplessness, 
restlessness, inability to alter painful circum- 
stances, spiritual perception of surroundings that 
must be endured. Such must be the state of those 
who reject the truth of the love of God in Christ." 

Other matters are touched upon by the perfect 
Teacher, such as the impossibility of a disembodied 
spirit ever returning to visit earth ; this fact is spe- 
cially needed in these days of increasing spiritual- 
ism. Also that a re-embodied spirit would not have 
more weight over men's minds than the Old Testa- 
ment Scriptures, "Moses and the prophets." In the 
allusion to the Old Testament Scriptures, we have 



St. Luke: The Prophet Teaching Men. 163 

His authoritative statement of their value in leading 
men to God, and the refusal of their authenticity 
and authority can be replaced by no other revelation 
or by any speculation. 

The parable of the Rich Fool (Chap, xii.) 
was occasioned by the appeal of a man for Him to 
act as Judge in a legal dispute. By it, the Lord 
brought out the sin of covetousness, with the conse- 
quent independence of God in which such a man 
lives, and the unexpected interference of God in 
such an one's life. The rich man has been going 
over his enormous gains, and making plans for 
taking care of the produce of his estates ; yet what 
has he done for the success of his property! He 
could only sow his seed, plough his ground, and 
reap his harvests — and between sowing time and 
reaping time, what? GOD — watching the fields, 
watering with His dew and rain, warming and fructi- 
fying with His sun, and producing, by His laws and 
goodness, the harvests that enrich the occupier of 
the soil. The sin is the practical atheism of the man, 
the blotting out of God from his life and thought. 
Then comes the sudden action of God in the re- 
moval of the man, and demanding an account of 
his life. It is perfectly fair and just that thus He 
should act, and let the man reap what he has sown. 

In another parable, that of the Barren Fig-tree 
(Chap, xiii.) a further lesson is taught, of great im- 



164 St. Luke: The Prophet Teaching Men. 

portance for those who preach the Gospel. There is 
a popular impression that a person can come to God 
at any time, and He will have mercy ; that the long- 
suffering of God may be relied upon to continue for 
a lifetime, if not indefinitely. Here the Prophet 
teaches that such is not the case. In the parable, it 
is pointed out that if a fig-tree fails to discharge 
the functions 1 of a fig-tree, namely, to bear figs, it 
is in the way, and must be got out of the way, to 
make room for some other tree that will bear fruit. 
Then come's the plea for limited long-suffering: 
"DorcT, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig 
about it, and dung it, and if it bear fruit, well. But 
if not, then after that Thou shalt cut it down." 
Give it one more chance to> fulfil its 1 functions, let 
there be mercy, but let it be limited to one more year. 

The functions of a human life are to glorify God, 
and serve Him. If a human life fails to discharge 
those functions, there is no reason for its continu- 
ance. It is only in the way. There is 1 a limit to 
Gad's forbearance and patience, a righteous limit — 
and this should be clearly made known to people. 

The parable of the Feast (Chap, xiv.) illus- 
trates another phase of truth, that God takes the ex- 
cuses made by men for refusing His invitation as 
the true expression of their purpose and desire, and 
acts accordingly. He is not prepared to give oppor- 



St. Luke: The Prophet Teaching Men. 165 

tunity necessarily for any reversal of the choice. 
"None of them shall taste of my supper." The ex- 
cuses offered are accepted as final, and nothing more 
can be done — no further invitation will be sent — 
no apology can be accepted. 

How solemn and necessary such teaching was. 
It shews the love of God in sending such a mes- 
senger with such a message — that men may have 
a true knowledge of God's principles in dealing with 
sinners against Him. 

Parables on Prayer. 

Some of the parables already looked at reappear 
in association with Prayer. The question is, How 
shall a sinner speak to God? 

Will God hear and answer Prayer ? 

How will He answer Prayer? on what terms? 

Prayer is vital to spiritual life and to communion 
with God. If sin has interrupted such communion, 
how can it be dealt with, -and communion restored ? 

Jesus, as a man of prayer, is the Teacher on 
Prayer, and He gives us not only parables, but 
definite teaching, which will be found scattered 
through the Gospels. 

The other parables not included in either group 
are the Parable of the Pounds, to teach the going 
and returning of the Nobleman, the Lord Himself, 
and the occupation to which He calls all His serv- 



166 St. Luke: The Prophet Teaching Men. 

ants during His absence. The treatment of the 
servants by the returning King is to shew the re- 
sponsibility attaching to every Christian, and that 
the position in the glory of the next life is to be fixed 
by the conduct of the Christian in this. Used or 
wasted opportunities will procure, or lose, special 
rewards in the administration of the kingdom in 
the future. 

The parables of the Unfinished Tower and the 
Two Armies are to give lessons in true discipleship 
as contrasted with nominal profession of such. 

A Few Thoughts on the Parables on Prayer. 
The Two Debtors is to teach that God can only 
freely forgive when there is the confession of "noth- 
ing to pay." 

"Nothing in my hands I bring; 
Simply to Thy Cross I cling." 

How easily is this sung ; how difficult is its prac- 
tice! The human heart cannot believe in God's 
freeness of pardon. "My thoughts are not your 
thoughts." 

The Friend at Midnight is to remind us that 
we never have anything to give to a friend who is 
"out of the way." There must be an immediate ap- 
peal to God for the supply of the Bread of Life, 
and He will never be unwilling or unready to supply 
it. The story is in contrast with God's way of 



St. Luke: The Prophet Teaching Men. 167 

answering, not in comparison. The Lord's Prayer 
preceding is the prayer for bread for ourselves; 
then the story of bread for others. God loves im- 
portunity ; we cannot be too importunate. He may 
apparently refuse, but only to draw us out in further 
intercessory prayer. 

In the "Lost Son'''' there is, strictly speaking, no 
prayer at all. It is only confession that God needs 
from the sinner or the backslider: "Father, I have 
sinned" — and then the much kissing removed the 
possibility of the utterance of the prayer that had 
been composed: "Make me as one of thy hired serv- 
ants." Here lies an important lesson to those who 
deal with anxious souls. The true position of the 
evangelist, or worker, is that of bringing a message 
from God that needs an answer ; not bringing a sin- 
ner to God to present a petition that needs an 
answer. The Gospel is an offer of pardon, mercy, 
new life, etc. Is a sinner to ask for it or say 
whether he accepts it? Confession, not prayer, is 
needed. The one is difficult because it involves 
humiliation : the other is easy because it is some- 
thing for a sinner to do. Prayer will come after 
accepting mercy, asking how to use it, how to live, 
how to glorify God. 

In this connection, notice the parable of the 
Pharisee and Publican. The Pharisee asked for 



i68 St. Luke: The Prophet Teaching Men. 

nothing; it was all a statement of what he was, or 
was not, to his own credit, by his own attainment. 
He was a self-centred man, seeking nothing from 
God as a sinner. On the other hand, the Publican 
prayed, "God, accept the sacrifice for me the 
sinner." It was the sinner putting himself in the 
right position with regard to the sacrifice for sin, 
namely, between himself and God, as his only hope 
or ground of acceptance, and then humbly calling 
God's attention to the fact, and claiming the free 
pardon and mercy. Thus he was "justified." 

Returning again to the story of the Lost Son — 
from this parable, or story, so much is based to prove 
what is known as the Universal Fatherhood of God, 
and that expiation for sin is not necessary because 
not here referred to . If this were the only utter- 
ance of the Lord, and we had no other teaching, 
all such statements might be fairly inferred. Let 
us be clear as to what Scripture teaches : 

First, that God is the Author and Creator of all 
life, as such in a general sense "Father." "We 
are His offspring," is the quotation from the heathen 
poet that the Apostle Paul makes use of in his ad- 
dress to the Athenians, not to prove the Fatherhood 
of God, but to correct the wrong heathen teaching 
of the day, and to prove to them the one origin of 
life, namely, God whom they ignorantly worshipped. 



St. Luke: The Prophet Teaching Men. 169 

The expression "Fatherhood of God" is, in itself, 
misleading. Christ came to reveal the unknown 
fact that all true believers in Him were, by virtue 
of their union with Him, "sons of God/' and were 
to know God as their Father. He taught not "the 
truth of the Fatherhood of God," but the fact that 
His disciples had become children of God by virtue 
of the new birth, regeneration. There — as declared 
in St. John iii. — is not a returning of a lost son, to 
be re-established in the Father's house, but the im- 
parting of an entirely new life, the beginning of a 
new relationship, life from God, life in God, super- 
natural life, as distinct from the natural. 

Then, again, no Jew would for a moment think 
of God pardoning and welcoming a sinner apart 
from a sacrifice for sin. It was, one might say, 
unnecessary to suggest it, so ingrained was the 
truth that "without the shedding of Blood, there 
was no remission of sin." A Jew was brought up 
from infancy in the doctrine of expiation for sin 
as the only ground of pardon. The apparent omis- 
sion of any such doctrine would have caused no dif- 
ficulties and raised no question. 

Another point, the parable is not explained by the 
Lord as being typical of God the Father. It is one 
of a series suggesting how a sinner can be sought, 
saved, found. If he is helpless, he is sought and 



170 St. Luke: The Prophet Teaching Men. 

saved. If he returns, he is welcomed and saved, 
as a father would welcome and entertain a returning 
prodigal. Without minimizing the force of the 
Lord's teaching, we must be careful not to read in 
what is not there. "Like as a father pitieth his chil- 
dren, so Jehovah pitieth them that fear Him," is 
what the Lord teaches ; not "Because God is a 
Father," which is practically the modern idea. 

The parables of the Unjust Judge and Pharisee 
and Publican deal with the questions of persistent 
prayer and prevailing prayer. Persistent prayer 
must be offered always. There is no such thing as 
God being wearied and troubled by our "continual 
coming." He loves the frequent sound of the voice 
of His children. He is wearied by false profession 
and formalism, not by constant pleading. See the 
alterations in the R. V., that greatly clear up the 
difficulty of the comparison between the widow 
slowly avenged, and not for righteousness > sake, and 
the elect, speedily avenged, because of God's "long- 
suffering over them." He may appear dilatory in 
avenging, and that will be because He does not 
measure time as we do. He bears with His people ; 
further, He has fellowship with them in the oppres- 
sion they undergo. His long-suffering means, there- 
fore, an entering into their suffering, not an ignor- 
ing of it, and so the deliverance will be for Him 



St. Luke: The Prophet Teaching Men. 171 

a greater gladness and glory. So pray on, pray on ; 
but pray along the line of God's revealed purpose 
and will, and not like the Pharisee, who simply in- 
vestigated his own good points of character. In- 
vestigate God's character in order to prevail in 
prayer. 

In the parable of the Feast (chap, xiv.), the 
Lord brings out another phase of prayer in the 
reply of those invited, namely, "I pray thee have 
me excused." This sounded apparently a polite ex- 
cuse for not accepting. It is treated as a petition, 
meant in good earnest, and to be fully answered : 
"None of those men that were bidden shall taste my 
supper." The pre-occupation of these men is their 
excuse, and the basis of their prayer. It is an awful- 
ly solemn fact that this condition of things is con- 
stantly recurring, and that multitudes must find 
themselves in the position of being eternally ex- 
cluded from the Supper of Jehovah, the feast of 
joy in the day of Resurrection. (See page 172.) 

To summarize some of the Lord's teachings on 
prayer from the Synoptic Gospels : 

Matt. vi. 5-14. Pray as a child, because you are a 
child of the Father in heaven. Do not pray as the 
Pharisees, whose object is ostentation; nor as the 
Gentiles, who trust to constant and aimless repeti- 
tion. Pray privately, simply, for what you need, and 
expect to be answered. 
































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St. Luke: The Prophet Teaching Men, 173 

If you pray to your Father, you must be like your 
Father, in the matter of forgiveness, Matt. vi. 14. 

In this way recommend your Father, because if 
evil parents know how to give good gifts to their 
children, how much more must you obtain, by 
prayer, from such a Father, immeasurably superior 
gifts, Matt. vi. II, 

According to the Lord's Prayer, Matt. vi. 9-13, 
pray after this manner: Classify your subjects as 
the Lord suggested. Do not put your needs first, 
but put God's great needs first. His Name, His 
Kingdom, His Will, are supreme with Him, let 
them be supreme with you. They will affect char- 
acter, conduct, circumstances, far more than the 
usual style of praying for ourselves first, and often 
exclusively. "Give us," "Forgive us," "Lead us," 
"Deliver us" will take care of themselves in prayer 
when they come in the right place. 

Prayer according to His Will is a Divine neces- 
sity; it goes without saying. 

Prayer in Faith is another pre-requisite, Mark xi. 
24. The faith must go before the answer, and claim 
it, and give thanks for it. Thus, faith will honour 
God's character and praise Him joyfully. The usual 
method is to pray and wait for the answer, then to 
praise and give thanks. The Lord teaches a superior 
way: "Believe that ye have received." Any true 



174 St. Luke: The Prophet Teaching Men. 

child that does this will add its grateful "Thank 
you." 

To such faith in lively exercise these great 
achievements are promised : 

i. That fig-trees shall wither at the bidding of 
believers, Matt. xxi. 21. The fig-tree was the repre- 
sentation of profession of spiritual life without any 
fruit. This abounds on all sides. A withering of 
such would be a solemn exposure and a strange, 
powerful testimony to the presence of God. 

2. That a mountain should remove and be cast 
into the sea, Matt. xxi. 21. A mountain is a diffi- 
culty of long standing, and a natural difficulty, part 
of the old creation. This shall go before faith in 
God. How many of God's people might begin now 
to remove natural difficulties, and so make more 
room for the manifestation of the life abundantly. 

3. That a sycamore tree shall be transplanted 
and be cast into the sea, Luke xvii. 5, 6. This is a 
growth of long standing. This, too, shall go before 
faith and prayer. Habits long since formed shall 
be transplanted into an element that will make 
further growth impossible. How illimitable are 
these promises, and what vistas of possibility open 
up to the believing student of God's Word ! 

A model prayer-meeting, Matt, xviii. 19, 20. "If 
two of you shall agree ... it shall be done . . . for 



St. Luke: The Prophet Teaching Men, 175 

where two or three are gathered together in My 
name, there am I in the midst of them." "Two of 
you" — here is the clue to the blessing here promised. 
Two of such praying people as have been described 
— praying as children, like the Father, recommend- 
ing the Father, exercising this quality of faith that 
affects mountains, fig-trees, sycamore-trees. Get 
such together, and the Lord will be there, eager to 
meet such dynamic souls, entering so fully into the 
law r s of His operations in the world. Then comes 
the "anything" of possibility that is in harmony with 
His will. It is a glorious outlook, and far beyond 
the ordinary thinking or expecting of believers. 



Chapter IX. 
ST. JOHN : THE SON OF GOD. 

The Keywords — Messiahship. 

"Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world." 
— John i. 29. 

The Author. 

THE writer of this Gospel was the son of 
Zebedee and Salome, who was believed to 
have been the sister of the mother of our Lord. If 
so, John would have been the Lord's cousin. He 
was a< Galilean, and had a brother named James. 
Both of them were naturally of fiery temper, and 
were surnamed Boanerges, the Sons of Thunder. 
John was one of John the Baptist's disciples, and was 
so impressed by the twice expressed sentence : "Be- 
hold the Lamb of God," that he, with Andrew, fol- 
lowed the Lord and they became the first disciples. 
Returning home, he was subsequently called from 
the fishing industry, and become one of the chosen 
three who were present at the raising of Jairus' 
daughter, the Transfiguration, and the going into 
Gethsemane. The three were also, with Andrew, the 
interested questioners on the Mount of Olives, as to 
the future events in national history and as to the 
second advent. (Matt, xxiv; Mark xiii.) 
176 



St. John: The Son of God — Messiah. 177 

On three occasions, his impetuosity flashed out, 
namely, when he forbade the successful exorcist to 
continue his work of mercy, Luke ix. 49; when he 
asked permission to bring down fire from Heaven 
on the Samaritan villagers, Luke ix. 54, and when 
he sought for his brother and himself right and left 
hand seats in the Messianic kingdom, Mark x. 35. 

It was he, who, with Peter, prepared the passover 
supper in the upper room, and subsequently asked 
who was traitor. He introduced Peter to the high 
priest's palace during those awful early morning 
hours of the trial of the Lord. He was present at 
his Lord's crucifixion, and led away the mother of 
the Lord to his own home. He was at the grave, 
and was the first to enter and examine the phe- 
nomenon of the empty tomb and the way the grave 
clothes were lying folded. 

He was in the last recorded fishing incident on the 
Sea of Galilee, and one of the 500 men present at 
the great meeting of men only in Galilee. 

He was a Palestinian Jew, and his narrative is 
full of Jewish customs, of Jewish notions as to 
Messiah, of the records of the hostility between 
Jews and Samaritans, and between the Jews and 
Jesus. 

He has taken particular notice of Old Testament 
allusions, and is manifestly struck with their fulfil- 



178 St. John: The Son of God — Messiah. 

ment, and with the use of them made by the Lord 
in His teaching. For instance, we find mentioned, 
the Brazen Serpent, the Paschal Lamb, the Manna, 
the Water from the Smitten Rock, the Writings of 
Moses, Abraham's Sacrifice on Mount Moriah. 

He was an eye-witness of all he records, and 
gives the names and particulars of many places and 
individuals. It is supposed the Gospel was written 
from Ephesus, where he was bishop, and the date 
to be between 85 and 90 A. D. 

THE TOPIC OF THE BOOK 

is the Deity of Jesus of Nazareth. Has 
St. Matthew traced Him as Son of David and 
Son of Abraham? has St. Mark showed Him to be 
Jehovah's Servant? has St. Luke portrayed Him 
as the Son of Man, telling the Bethlehem story in 
all its sweet wonder, showing Him in the Nazareth 
home, working as a Carpenter till He stepped out 
into the public ministry? St. John, passing by all 
these details and facts, shows Him to have been with 
God in the beginning, making all things, upholding 
all things, and then becoming flesh, still God, always 
God. ; 

From the bosom of the Father he declares Him 
as the Son of God upon earth. Back to the bosom 
of the Father He goes after having passed His death 



St. John: The Son of God — Messiah. 179 

and the tomb. But of the Ascension, John does not 
speak as do the others. Is He gone? It is obvious 
He is gone to the Father — nowhere else could He 
go. 

The Key Verse maybe taken from xx. 31. "These 
are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the 
Son of God, and that believing ye might have life 
through His Name." 

Or from xvi. 28, "I came forth from the Father, 
and am come into the world, again I leave the world, 
and go to the Father" This latter verse, in a very 
interesting and unexpected way, marks the divisions 
of the subject-matter of the book thus: 

1. / came forth from the Father (i. 1-18), the 
introduction to the book. 

2. And am come into the world (i. 19-xii.), the 
revelation of Himself to the world as the "Word," 
who "was God" 

3. Again I leave the world (xii.-^xix), the reve- 
lation of Himself to the Disciples, before and after 
the Cross. 

4. And go to the Father (xx.-xxi.). 

The second division may be further subdivided 
thus: 

(a) The Testimony (i. 19-ii. 12). 

(b) The Work amongst Jews (ii. 13-iii. 36). 

(c) The Work amongst Samaritans (iv. 1-42). 



180 St. John: The Son of God — Messiah. 

(d) The Work amongst Galileans (iv. 43-54). 

(e) The Work amongst Mixed Multitudes (v.- 
xi.). 

(f) The final words on accepting or rejecting the 
testimony (xii.). 

The keywords are several, and each will require 
careful study. 

(1) "The Father," occurring 120 times. 

(2) "Sent," occurring 38 times. 

(3) "World," occurring 78 times. 

(4) "Light," occurring 23 times. 

(5) "Life," occurring 40 times. 

(6) "Witness," occurring 47 times. 

(7) "Sign," occurring 17 times. 

(8) "Believe," occurring 99 times. 

(9) "Verily, verily," occurring 24 times. 

Chapter Titles. 

A simple selection of Chapter Titles may be 
adopted, as follows : 

I. Eureka, "I have found." 

II. Cana. 

III. Nicodemus. 

IV. Samaria. 
V. Bethesda. 

VI. Bread of Life. 
VII. Feast of Tabernacles. 
VIII. The Father. 



St John: The Son of God — Messiah. 181 

IX. Blind man. 

X. Good Shepherd. 

XL Lazarus. 

XII. Greeks. 

XIII. Service. 

XIV. Holy Spirit. 
XV. True Vine. 

XVI. Comfort. 

XVII. Prayer. 

XVIII. Garden. 

XIX. Cross. 

XX. Resurrection. 

XXI. Galilee. 

Among the many lines of study, the following are 
suggested : The Personal Interviews ; the Messiah- 
ship; the "I am" Declarations; the word, "Verily, 
verily"; the Sent One; the Signs; the Announce- 
ment concerning the Holy Spirit. The Gospel is 
essentially for the World, and yet it is mainly com- 
posed of conversations with individuals and 
disciples. It is thus specially adapted to the indi- 
vidual, and to the believer, in any part of the world, 
of any nationality in the world. No book is found 
so popular in all countries, because of its intensely 
personal character. The Lord reveals Himself so 
closely and intimately. He has the same things to 
say to individuals of similar position and creed in 
the world. They are living words, they are "spirit" 
they are "truth" 



182 St. John: The Son of God — Messiah. 

The Personal Interviews: 

I- 38-39 With John the Writer. 
With Andrew. 
With Simon Peter. 
With Philip, and xiv. 8. 
With Nathaniel. 
With Nicodemus. 
With the Woman of Samaria. 
With the Nobleman of Cana. 
With the lame man at the pool of 

Bethseda. 
With the woman taken in adultery. 
With the Blind Man. 
With Martha. 
With Mary. 
With Lazarus. 

With the Greeks (apparently). 
With Thomas. 
With Judas (not Iscariot). 
With Mary of Magdala. 
With Thomas. 
With Simon Peter. 

In studying the variety of topics He handles, the 
questions and difficulties He meets, we shall bear in 
mind that around us are people in similar social posi- 
tions, difficulties and perplexities, who can be helped 
by His words. Let us use, as far as we may, His 
method of conversation, always emphasizing His 
great central topic, namely, Eternal life. Let us 
be disciples, and practice the lessons, to find how 



I. 


39 


I. 


42 


I. 


43 


I. 


45 


III. 


1 


IV. 




IV. 


49 


V. 


1- 9 


VIII. 


2-11 


IX. 




XL 


20 


XL 


20-27 


XL 


43 


XII. 


20-21 


XIV. 


5 


XIV. 


22 


XX. 


1-12 


XX. 


27-28 


XXI. 


15-22 



St. John: The Son of God — Messiah. 183 

living and up-to-date are His words, and how He is 
prepared to stand behind them and be responsible for 
them, as much now as then. St. John proves, by 
these narratives, that his opening statement is true 
that Jesus is the "Light of men;" the Light "shining 
in the darkness." 

HE KNOWS. 

In chapter ii. 25, we find the words : "He needed 
not that any should bear witness concerning what 
was in man; for He Himself knew what was in 
man." It is the principle of this writer to verify 
his statements concerning the Lord. The following 
facts in connection with some of the personal inter- 
views will illustrate that He knew what was in man. 

(a) Thou art Simon, son of Jona (Chap. i. 42). 
He knew the family this man belonged to, and, there- 
fore, the family history, and could at once give to 
the man His message. 

(b) Behold an Israelite, indeed, in whom is no 
guile (Chap. i. 47). He knew Nathaniel's character, 
though no one had told Him anything. 

(c) Art thou a teacher in Israel? (Chap. iii. 10). 
He knew the professional position of Nicodemus ; 
possibly His visitor may have hoped to have avoided 
recognition. 

(d) Thou hast had five husbands, and he whom 
thou now hast is not thy husband (Chap. iv. 17). 



184 St John: The Son of God — Messiah. 

He knew the secret sinful life, the conduct of the 
woman by the well, to her great surprise, and could 
therefore deal with her sin in pardoning love. 

(e) He knew he had been a long time in that case 
(Chap. v. 6). The lame man at the Pool of 
Bethesda need give Him no description of his state. 
Jesus knew the condition, and dealt with it. 

(f) Ye seek Me, because ye did eat of the loaves 
and were filled (Chap. vi. 26). Here He knew and 
declared the motives that brought the people to- 
gether a second time, the secondary, disappointingly 
secular motives, not the desire for His teaching 
about God and life. 

(g) He knew who should betray Him (Chap. xiii. 
11). Treachery was no surprise to Him, though 
an unspeakable agony. 

(h) Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that 
I love Thee (Chap. xxi. 17). The story opens with 
Simon Peter and closes with Simon Peter. The 
family first — now the heart of the tried, repentant, 
restored apostle; and the full declaration, "Thou 
knowest all things." 

What a mine of comfort lies here for further ex- 
ploration. If He knew then, He knows now — 
family, character, profession, conduct, condition, 
motive, all things. If He knows, He is not dis- 
appointed in His stumbling disciples. The Good 



St. John: The Son of God — Messiah. 185 

Shepherd cares for the sheep, understands that they 
are but sheep, and can bear with them accordingly. 
"All things are naked and open unto the eyes of 
Him with whom we have to do." Trust Him 
utterly ; obey Him implicitly ; He cannot fail in His 
treatment of the need. 

THE MESSIAHSHIP. 

That there should be no question about this in 
the mind of any readers, the apostle records the 
mental impressions and the utterance of many of 
these with whom the Lord had those personal inter- 
views. 

(1) John the Baptist says, "I am not the 
Messiah, but am sent to bear witness of the 
Messiah" (i. 20). Again, "I saw and bare record 
that this is the Son of God" (i. 34). 

(2) Andrew says: "We have found the Mes- 
siah" (i. 41). 

(3) Philip says : "We have found Him of whom 
Moses in the law and the prophets did write" (i. 45). 

(4) Nathaniel says : "Thou art the Son of God, 
Thou art the King of Israel" (i. 49). 

There is a splendid progression in these records, 
the personal perception, the fulfilment of Scripture, 
the recognition of the heavenly and earthly titles. 

(5) The Woman of Samaria says: "I know that 
Messiah cometh" (iv. 25) ; and after the statement, 



186 St. John: The Son of God — Messiah. 

"I am He" (verse 20), she goes out to the men of 
the city with the testimony, "Is not this the 
Messiah?" (verse 29). 

(6) The Men of Samaria: "Now we know that 
this is indeed the Messiah" (iv. 42). 

Presently, the opposition began, and the great 
dispute was waged among the Jews as to the 
Messiahship. The Jews sought to kill Him because 
He said God was His Father (v. 18). This was 
the same as claiming Messiahship. Again, "The 
Jews murmured because He said I am the Bread that 
came down from heaven" (vi. 41). In the midst 
of the controversy came the fine confession of Simon 
Peter, "We believe and are sure that thou art the 
Messiah, the Son of the Living God" (vi. 69). 

Again the opposition broke out, "Do the rulers 
know that this is indeed the Messiah? Many be- 
lieved — When the Messiah cometh will He do more 
signs than these?" Others said, "This is the Mes- 
siah." Some said, "Shall the Messiah come out 
of Galilee?" (vii. 26, 41 ) . So the discussion went on 
and became more and more severe. 

The Pharisees showed their determination to deny 
His Deity by announcing that "If any did confess 
He was the Messiah, he should be put out of the 
synagogue (ix. 22) ; and the blind man who dared 
to assume it and assert it, was forthwith put out, 



St. John: The Son of God — Messiah. 187 

and, as has been said, "was flung into the very 
bosom of Jesus." 

Then comes the enquiry. Chap. x. 24. "If Thou 
be the Messiah, tell us plainly." It seems to un- 
cover the tumult of the heart that so many were 
in, wanting and yet not wanting to know. National 
hope was centred on the Messiah, but could they, 
dare they, trust the Nazarene. His compassion, 
tenderness, gentleness, works of mercy could not 
fail to impress them with the possibility that, behind 
that sorrow-stricken face and worn appearance, 
there might perchance hide Deity, the hope of the 
nation — the sublime subject of prophecy. But alas! 
for blind unbelief and sullen prejudice. Taught by 
their leaders, the people rejected Him, while the 
plea for His death was, "He made Himself the Son 
of God" (xix. 7). Did not the very battle prove 
the facts denied? Would an impostor ever have 
succeeded in arousing so much controversy? Not 
a word, not an act, could be cited as contradicting 
the statement : again and again He appealed to this 
as confirmation. 

Today a similar controversy is raised over the 
same subject, and in many quarters the Deity is as 
fully denied as it was then. How shall we meet it ? 
Notice the closing statement of Matt, xxvii. "Say 
His disciples came by night and stole Him while we 



188 St. John: The Son of God — Messiah. 

slept/' and "Lo, I am with you always, even unto 
the end of the age." It is awkward company to be 
in, that of the consciously lying chief priests, elders 
and Roman soldiers, heathen men, as against the 
little band of devoted, believing, spirit-filled men and 
women, many of whom laid down their lives for 
the Lord afterwards, rather than deny His resurrec- 
tion, and actual presence on their behalf at the right 
hand of God. Unbelief gets us always into most 
uncomfortable society. 

I AM. 

Closely allied with the declaration of the Messiah- 
ship, is the use of the title, "I am." No title of 
Jehovah was held in greater reverence than that of 
"I AM ;" no one had ever dared to claim it, or to 
appropriate it. It was Jehovah's own revelation of 
Himself to Moses, and through Moses to Israel. It 
is hardly possible for us, in these days, as Gentiles, 
to understand the awe and awfulness for a Jew to 
hear a Galilean peasant claim and appropriate the 
title of Jehovah. No blasphemy could exceed it ; no 
death was too vile for the blasphemer — stoning, 
crucifixion, anything for such a one! "Away with 
Him! away with Him! Crucify Him! crucify Him!" 

Such an ebullition of feeling and hatred can be 
easily accounted for if Jesus of Nazareth has 
dared to quote that name of God as His own Name. 



St John: The Son of God — Messiah. 189 

And yet there was no hesitation on His part in so 
doing. Strange that no other evangelist refers to it. 
Were they afraid to record it ? would it be too start- 
ling for their readers? While to their faith it was 
clearly revealed, could they expect others to accept 
it? The difficulty must not be minimized in our 
minds. It was almost impossible for these Jewish 
leaders to permit any such assertion in their pres- 
ence. But the beloved disciple seems to glory in 
the frequent use, by his Lord, of this title, and has 
given us many instances of it. In our English ver- 
sion, the emphasis is unfortunately very much lost 
by the insertion, in italics, of "he" after the words 
"I am." But let them stand without the "he," and 
note the emphasis. 

1. In the conversation of the Messiah with 
the woman of Samaria, she has admitted the truth 
that Messiah is expected (iv. 26). To this the Lord 
replied, "I am — that speaketh unto thee" Not 
another word escaped her lips in reply; it seems to 
have settled the difficulty, and she left her water- 
pot, to go into the city and proclaim Him. 

2. In stilling the tempest on the lake, He 
walked on the water to the terrified disciples, saying, 
"I am" (vi. 20) ; and immediately there was a great 
calm. 

3. In the controversy that was very fierce 
round Him, the Lord at length said, "When ye have 



190 St John: The Son of God — Messiah. 

lifted up the Son of man, then ye shall know that I 
am" (viii. 28). Here He meant that His resurrec- 
tion would be the test of His deity, of His eternity. 
He unveiled their purpose to have Him crucified; 
He unveiled God's purpose in the resurrection to 
thus prove He was truly Jehovah, Israel's God and 
Saviour. 

4. A CONTINUATION OF THE ARGUMENT leads Up 

to the closing statement, "Before Abraham was, I 
am. Then took they up stones to stone Him" (viii. 
58). And no wonder. He had appeared before 
them as a Teacher, a Preacher, a Rabbi : but now 
He asserts His Godhead, and position before 
Abraham, whom they had' referred to as their an- 
cestor. It was a magnificent challenge to their un- 
belief ; it was fatal to His position. And He knew 
it; at whatever cost, the truth must be announced, 
that they may be without excuse. 

5. The band from the chief priest, under 
Judas Iscariot, had come to arrest Him; and again 
the beloved disciple supplies details not given else- 
where, bearing upon the Messiahship. To the ques- 
tion, "Whom seek ye?" (xviii. 5-8), and the reply, 
"Jesus of Nazareth," the Lord answered again, "I 
am." It was the one flash of His Deity before 
those hardened men that in an instant struck them 
to the ground. For "as soon as He had said unto 



St. John: The Son of God — Messiah. 191 

them / am, they went backward and fell to the 
ground." 

Again the Lord put the question, with the same 
answer, and the further declaration, "I have told 
you I am/' and suffered them to take Him. There 
could be no question, therefore, as to their responsi- 
bility in the chain of events that followed the arrest. 
There could be no mistaking the divine power or 
presence. What an awful fact for that poor man 
Judas to face, and to face for eternity! 

In addition to the foregoing, we find our Lord 
using the word "I am" as a prefix to seven fresh 
revelations of Himself to the disciples : 

(1) I am the Bread of Life. vi. 35, 41, etc. 

(2) I am the Light of the World, ix. 5. 

(3) I am the Door. x. 7. 

(4) I am the Good Shepherd, x. 11, 13. 

(5) I am the Resurrection and the Life. xi. 25. 

(6) I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. xiv. 6. 

(7) I am the True Vine. xv. 1. 

The dominant thought is Life throughout : He is 
the Life here, the Life hereafter; the Sustainer of 
Life, the Preserver of Life as Good Shepherd; the 
Entrance into Life, the Door ; the Strength of Life, 
the Vine. He expands the original revelation of 
Jehovah's Name as it had never before been ex- 
panded. He throws light on God's character, heart, 



192 St. John: The Son of God — Messiah. 

love, purpose, and promise, that men may believe 
and worship. 

It would be of deep interest and profit to trace 
the types or suggestions in the history of Jehovah 
with Israel, that point to this sevenfold declaration. 

THE WORLD. 

Another feature of the Gospel is that St. John 
emphasizes the relation of the Lord to the World 
as no other writer does. The Lord's words in 
reference thereto had deeply impressed him, as 
evidenced in his First Epistle, written some years 
later, and being, it is believed, later than the Revela- 
tion, and therefore the last communication of the 
Lord through the Holy Spirit to the Church while 
in the world. In the epistle, there are twenty-three 
mentions of this word, in connection with its prince, 
principles, attitude towards God, spirit, treatment 
of God's people, and "lying in the wicked one." 
The apostle gives no hint of subjugation, or con- 
version, or improvement, so long as the Prince of 
Darkness is at liberty and holds possession of the 
World. 

In the Gospel, the word occurs 78 times, 42 of 
which are found in chapters xiii.-xviii. 

The main statements in the Gospel are as follows : 

The world was made by Him, and was ignorant 
of Him 1 when He came to it. Chap. i. 10. 



St. John: The Son of God — Messiah. 193 

The sin of the world was that which drew Him 
from heaven, that He might be the Lamb of God 
to bear it away, and thus redeem the world for 
God. i. 29. 

The love of God for the world was shown in 
giving His Son. iii. 16. 

But He only encountered the hatred of the world, 
vii. 17. Ignorance first, then sin, then hatred, then 
death. 

He speaks to the world — not to the Jewish nation, 
not to disciples merely; hence the imperishable 
Scriptures must be translated into all languages, 
and be distributed throughout the world. Chap, 
viii. 26. (How far are we in harmony with the 
Lord's mind, and statement, and purpose, and are 
we helping in the circulation of His Word?) 

The Light of the world. Chap. ix. 5. He found 
only darkness, and would Himself be light. 

The judgment of the world an absolute necessity. 
Chap. xii. 31. 

The Prince of this world — its Ruler — cannot be 
ignored, for His principles hold sway, and must be 
dealt with. xii. 31. 

In the last prayer before the Cross, how the world 
is upon His heart, although there comes that mys- 
terious sentence, "I pray not for the world." His 
prayer is, however, "That the world may believe , , , 



194 St John: The Son of God — Messiah, 

that the world may know." Chap. xvii. 21, 23. 
How shall the world believe and know? Only 
through the lives and testimonies of disciples after 
the Lord shall have left and the Holy Spirit shall 
have come. 

The world will be too small a book-case to con- 
tain the volumes that might be written of the works 
and words of Jesus. Chap. xxi. 25. How stupen- 
dous must that life be, how various those energies, 
how infinite the Person! Not the Son of God? not 
from heaven? not the Risen Lord, the Eternal Son? 
How absurd and impossible such statements and 
conclusions. 

'Thou art the Son of God/' 

verily, verily. 

This prefix is another special feature of the nar- 
rative, and is peculiar to St. John. It introduces 
some of the greatest utterances of the Lord, that 
men might heed Him and obey His word. 

Chap. iii. 3, 5 : Introduces the great declaration 
concerning the necessity of the new birth, if any 
would see or enter the kingdom of God. 

Chap. iii. 11 : Affirms the absolute accuracy of the 
Lord's words ; they are most solemnly put by Him 
above dispute. 

Chap. v. 19: Announces the dependence of the 
Son upon the Father in all things. 



St. John: The Son of God — Messiah. 195 

Chap. v. 24, 25 : Two great declarations as to how 
to obtain eternal life and hearing the voice of the 
Son of God. 

Chap. vi. 26 : The disclosing of the impure motives 
of the crowds that flocked around Him; He was 
not in any danger of being deceived by their pres- 
ence and led to any false issues. 

Chap. vi. 32, 47, 53 : Life alone can be main- 
tained through feeding on Him as the true Bread 
of Life. 

Chap. viii. 34: Sin is a master — not something 
that can easily be thrown off. This is one of the 
most solemn and important of the Lord's state- 
ments. 

Chap. viii. 51: Declares the perfect security of 
him who keeps the Lord's word ; it is a great utter- 
ance on the powerlessness of death. 

Chap. viii. 58 : Is His magnificent assertion, "Be- 
fore Abraham was, I am." 

Chap. x. 17: In these two verses, He declares His 
relation as "Shepherd," and "Door" into the sheep- 
fold, and thus asserts His personal responsibility 
for the security of those committed to Him. 

Chap. xii. 24 : He is nearing the end of His public 
ministry; the shadows of the cross are beginning 
to fall across His soul, and He declares the great 



196 St. John: The Son of God — Messiah. 

truth of life through death, under the symbol of 
the corn of wheat. 

In chap, xiii., there will be found four words of 
His with this introduction ; and in the great closing 
discourse in the upper room, on the night of the 
betrayal, He declares, in xiv. 12, the great future 
of the believing disciple in the matter of service. In 
xvi. 20, He speaks of the turning of the future 
great sorrow into joy, and in xvi. 23, of the purpose 
to answer prayer. 

This great group may be arranged in different 
ways, and will make an important pattern of truth 
proceeding from the great Teacher's lips as the Son 
of God. We need have no doubt of the accuracy 
and power of these words of His. They will stand 
the test of all human enquiry, and be found the 
veritable Rock of Divine Truth for the believer in 
all time. 



Chapter X. 
ST. JOHN: THE SON OF GOD. 

The Signs. 

THE gospel opens with the statement, "In the 
beginning was the Word — and the Word was 
God. All things were made by Him, and with- 
out Him was not anything made that was made. And 
the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." It 
appears to be a principle of this writer to illustrate 
his statements concerning the Lord by a narrative of 
such facts as will confirm them. Is He the Word ? 
Then what He says will come to pass on earth as 
well as in the past aeons of creation. Were all 
things made by Him? Then He can act as Creator 
now as well as of old. Therefore, if the Word be 
made flesh, and dwells among men, there will be 
clear proofs of His being the Word that was from 
the beginning, in that what He says will be. Again 
he says, "In Him was Life." This will also be 
proved by the signs He will work. For did He not 
Himself say, "I am come that they might have life, 
and that they might have it abundantly?" The 
seven signs recorded are, with two exceptions, only 
found in this gospel. They are given in a certain 
197 



198 St. John: The Son of God — His Signs. 

order, and it would appear that this order is de- 
signed to teach the believer his own history, as he 
shall listen to his Lord. Then, again, there are, 
as already pointed out, seven special declarations 
of His, prefaced with the two great Jehovistic 
words, "I am/' and these seven fit over the seven 
signs with a beautiful accuracy. Further, we shall 
note that these signs wrought by the Word are 
unaccompanied by the working of His hand, as so 
distinctly recorded in the group found in St. Mark's 
gospel. 

In the R. V., the word "signs" has replaced the 
word "miracles." The word occurs 17 times, and 
should be carefully looked up. These signs were 
never wrought to produce faith, but to confirm 
faith. It was not the Lord's desire ever to work a 
wonder in order to startle, or to create surprise, 
or draw a crowd, or make any sensation. 

First Sign. ii. 1-11. The water made wine. This 
is the beginning of miracles wrought in Cana of 
Galilee. It was in a private house ; it was symbolical 
of all He would do, namely, supply what is lacking 
in human lives and hearts. Throughout Scripture, 
wine is used as a symbol of joy. "They wanted 
wine" conveys to us the fact, They wanted joy. All 
earthly festivities lack joy. It never lasts out, it 
runs short. Only the Lord Jesus can supply the 



St. John: The Son of God — His Signs. 199 

lacking element, and it is always fortunate if the 
hosts have had the wisdom to invite Him to be 
present among the guests. In the narrative, we 
find that His mother made known to Him the need 
that had arisen, and then said to the servants, 
"Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it." This has 
been called the Gospel of the blessed Virgin Mary. 
It is a gospel, for the secret of all joy and blessing 
is obedience to His word and will. His first word 
is, "Fill the waterpots with water." These were 
large jars that had been used for the customary 
ablutions for the guests, and so large had the mar- 
riage party been, that these jars were empty. It 
seemed an unnecessary thing to order, but for- 
tunately those servants were devoid of the modern 
habit of questioning and discussing every order 
before obeying it, and they immediately did what 
was enjoined. Then came the second command 
from His lips, "Draw out now and bear unto the 
governor of the feast." This needed greater faith 
than did the first. But the servants have learned 
well their first lesson, "WHATSOEVER He saith 
unto you, do it." And they had the courage and 
faith to draw off some of that water into the wine 
vessels, as though it were wine. What would the 
governor say if he were offered water as if it were 
wine? The change did not take place apparently 



200 St. John: The Son of God — His Signs. 

till they were literally pouring from the vessel into 
the drinking cup, and THEN it was wine, and 
such good quality as to call forth the remark as to 
its goodness. This is the great introductory sign. 
He has come to give joy. Do what He commands, 
for He is the Word that was from the beginning, 
and there will be fulness of joy. 

Second Sign. iv. 46-54. The nobleman's son 
healed of fever. In this case, the father has come 
seeking the Lord's help in the words, "Sir, come 
down ere my child die." After a brief conversation, 
the "Word" speaks, "Go thy way, thy son liveth." 
This is the gift of life. It is the beginning of joy. 
How the arrval of a new life gives joy to a family. 
There is no joy like it in the human experience. 
The fever may be suggestive of the destructive 
power of sin, and only His word can counteract it. 
The father, on his return, finds that the very hour 
when the words were spoken, the boy recovered. 
What joy for the sick boy! what joy for the father, 
for the mother, for the servants', for all the house- 
hold ! They all shared it. 

Third Sign. v. 1-9. The impotent man cured. 
What is life without strength? Life is given, but 
He will give life abundantly. This third sign, then, 
is to illustrate the expansion and development of 
life. How does He do this? He only speaks. First 



St. John: The Son of God — His Signs. 201 

He says, "Dost thou will to be made whole?" The 
lame man, like most men, is unable to give a straight 
answer to a straight question, and begins to talk 
round the matter. Then, without more loss of 
time, the Lord says, "Rise, take up thy bed and 
walk." He did not, as in some other cases, take 
him by the hand. The sign is to illustrate that He 
is the "Word" still, and that He expects, nay de- 
mands, obedience, and with that comes the enabling 
power. In this case, there is joy, the joy of abound- 
ing life. 

Fourth Sign. vi. 1-13. The five thousand fed. 
How can strength be maintained? Only by food. 
So this next recorded incident will illustrate this fact. 
He who has given life and strength, will now give 
food to maintain it ; not in any scant measure. The 
great crowd has as much as it can eat, and then 
there is bread enough and to spare, for it is "the 
Father's house" they are gathered into. Notice, 
again, the method of His blessing. He first en- 
quires what there is, and then, having taken the 
boy's little basket full of five barley cakes and two 
small fishes, He blesses them and then gives to 
the disciples, with the command to distribute it 
amongst the people. There is nothing done, only 
something said. All is so quiet, so simple, so easy — 
the words of thanks to the Father, the words of 



202 St. John: The Son of God — His Signs. 

command to the disciples, and the great multitude 
satisfied. Was there not joy here also? Is it not 
parallel with the first sign? Does not all He says 
happen and accomplish that which ministers joy? 

Fifth Sign. vi. 14-21. Stilling the Storm. Here 
we see the disciples in danger, surrounded by a tem- 
pest which is frightening them, for they are power- 
less against it all. To them, in the fourth watch 
— that is, between three and six in the morning — 
comes Jesus walking on the water, and He says, "It 
is I, be not afraid/' and to the storm, "Peace; be 
still/' Immediately Creation hears the voice of its 
Creator, and obeys. The "Word," Who made all 
things, hushes the warring elements by His pres^ 
ence. Was not this joy to those troubled, toiling 
men? So He teaches that the life He gives He 
will also defend and watch over, preserving from 
all evil, and caring for it that He may again and 
again give the fulness of joy. 

Sixth Sign. ix. Opening the eyes of the blind 
mem. In the opening chapter is the statement that 
the Life is the Light. Here John shews us an ex- 
ample of this. This man, born blind, unexpectedly 
comes into contact with Him Who is the Life, and 
learns it by finding He is the Light. Those blind 
eyes cannot remain so in His presence. But how 
does He handle him? Apparently, there is a de- 



St. John: The Son of God — His Signs. 203 

parture from the method which has been suggested 
as pursued, namely, working by His word only. He 
makes clay with His spittle, and anoints the eyes of 
the man, accompanying it with the word, "Go, 
wash." This act was in no way necessary to pro- 
duce the blessing. May it not have been to let the 
man know the Lord had full sympathy with his 
state, and then, to give him an abject in obeying 
the command to wash ? It was apparently to stimu- 
late his faith and obedience. The blessing lay in 
the man's obedience to the Lord's word. For he 
went and washed, and came seeing. Is there not 
wonderful joy for him in this sudden opening to 
him of a new world? The effect upon him is that 
he becomes a worshipper. This is the occupation 
of all who have life, and life abundantly. Worship 
is to be the business here and hereafter. 

Seventh Sign. xi. Lazarus raised from the dead. 
This last of the series is the culmination of joy, the 
greatest display of His power. Three utterances 
fall from His lips : First, "Take ye away the stone." 
Then after prayer to the Father, "Lazarus, come 
forth." Then he that was dead came forth, bound 
hand and foot with grave clothes, whereupon Jesus 
said, "Loose him, and let him go." Three words of 
command demanding obedience from those to whom 
they were addressed, and then the joy broke forth 
in the resurrection. 



204 St. John: The Son of God — His Signs. 

Against these seven signs, let us put the seven 
great I am declarations. 

First Sign. Water made wine, i am the true 
vine. He will always turn the ordinary of our life 
into the extraordinary of His life given to us. From 
the true vine, always the best wine. 

Second Sign. The boy restored, i am the way, 
the truth, and the life. He had said, "Go thy 
way, thy son liveth," and the father found it was 
the truth that the Lord had spoken. 

Third Sign. The impotent man had lain, for 
many years, in his helplessness, waiting for some 
one to put him into the pool of Bethesda, but he 
had got no further than the porch. When the 
Son of God came along, He put him into the pool 
of blessing, for He can say, i am the door, by me 
if any man enter in he shall be saved. 

Fourth Sign. The five thousand fed is followed 
by the exposition of His own words, I am the bread 
of life, and he that eateth Me, he shall live by Me. 

Fifth Sign. Stilling the tempest. It was dark 
and stormy, and the disciples were alone, for He 
had gone away up the mountain to spend the night 
in prayer. Has He forgotten them? Does He not 
know what is happening to them? Yes; for He 
says, i am the good shepherd, and know my sheep. 
The darkness and the light are both alike to Him. 



St. John: The Son of God — His Signs. 205 

He is not far off, after all, but near enough to help 
and save. 

Sixth Sign. Opening the blind eyes. In this 
case, He says, 1 am the light, and so the enlight- 
ened soul can follow Him and never again walk 
in darkness. 

Seventh Sign. Raising Lazarus. 1 am the res- 
urrection and the life. Looking once more over 
this group of pictures, do we not see how they are 
the history of Christ's work in each one who believes 
in Him? Life, Strength, Food, Deliverance, En- 
lightenment to make us worshippers, and then, the 
last act of all — Resurrection. This is the last thing 
He will have to do for us here below. "The Lord 
Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. . . 
and the dead in Christ shall rise first/' He began 
His first series at a marriage feast on earth. Will 
He not begin His second series of signs at another 
marriage feast, namely, at the "marriage of the 
Lamb," and to this series there shall be no end ? An 
ever-increasing manifestation of His power and 
glory, as the Son of God, shall follow, and we shall 
go no more out from His presence. That will be 
fulness of joy indeed. 

the witness-bearing. 
Another feature of the Gospel is that the Deity 
of the Lord is proved by the testimony of witnesses, 



206 St. John: The Son of God — His Signs. 

and confirmed by the working of signs. The four 
great witness-bearers are : 

i. The Father, v. 37. — He bore witness at the 
baptism, when John the Baptist heard the voice from 
the excellent majesty, "Thou art My beloved Son." 

2. The Spirit, xv. 26. — He has come, as pre- 
dicted, and He is daily bearing witness of the 
crucifixion and resurrection, and that He is the Son 
of God. 

3. The Scriptures, v. 39. — "They bear witness 
of Me." His appeal to written Scripture was fre- 
quent as the reason for what He said and did. They 
proved His Deity to the devout, pious believer. 

4. The Works, v. 36. — His acts, miracles, habits 
of life, ways of living, all went to prove that He was 
the Son of God from heaven. If this fourfold testi- 
mony were rejected, nothing remained to appeal to; 
it was enough, it was more than enough. 

Yet in addition, the writer gives a list of ten men 
and women who bore testimony to His Deity, from 
John the Baptist, in chap. L, to Thomas' magnificent 
utterance in chap, xx., "My Lord and my God." 
Could all these be inventions of the apostle, or of 
some other writer unknown? Is not the evidence 
overwhelming that this could be none other than 
the Son of God? 



Chapter XI. 

ST. JOHN: THE SON OF GOD. 
The Sent One — the Lamb of God. 

the sent one. 

THE one reason the Lord gives for all He says 
and does is that He is sent of the Father, 
The whole responsibility, therefore, of His words 
and actions travels back to Him that sent Him. This 
is true concerning the smallest minutiae of His life. 
He has never acted independently. He has never 
quoted a line of Scripture except under the conscious 
bidding of the Father and the guidance of the Holy 
Spirit. This applies not merely to what this writer 
narrates, but to every utterance and to every act. 
Admit, for a moment, the possibility of inaccuracy, 
of mistaken application of an Old Testament Script- 
ure, and where are we landed? Certainly in a far 
greater difficulty than that of accepting every state- 
ment of His as absolute truth, unmixed with im- 
agination, fable or ignorance. Behind Him is God 
the Father ; in Him is God the Holy Spirit ; through 
Him is the revelation of the love and truth of God 
to all who will believe Him. He is the Word, who 
was God. 

207 



208 St. John: The Sent One. 

Two statements are made by the Apostle John 
in reference to His being the Sent One, one in iii. 17, 
"God: sent not His son into the world to condemn 
the world, but that the world, through Him, might 
be saved"; the other in iii. 34, "For He Whom 
God hath sent speaketh the words of God." Here 
are two announcements: the purpose in His being 
sent, to save the world, and the message He delivers 
being the very words of God. This being so, the 
Lord constantly makes the appeal to faith in His 
message and in Himself. There is no ground for 
doubt or unbelief. Thus, in v. 24, "He that heareth 
My Word and believieth in Him that sent Me hath 
eternal life." 

v. 38. "Whom He sent, Him ye believe not." 

vi. 29. "This is the work of God that ye believe 
on Him Whom He hath sent." 

x. 36. "Say ye of Him Whom the Father hath 
sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphem- 
est, because I said I am the Son of God ?" 

xi. 42. "Because of the people that stand by, I 
said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent 
Me." 

xvii. 21. "That the world may believe that Thou 
hast sent Me." 

xvii. 23. "That the world may know that Thou 
hast sent Me." 



St. John: The Sent One. 209 

xvii. 25. "These have known that Thou hast 
sent Me." 

Another declaration He makes is His absolute 
dependence on and submission to the Father. 

iv. 34. "My meat is to do the will of Him that 
sent Me." 

v. 30. "I seek not Mine own will, but the will 
of Him that sent Me." 

vi. 38. "I am not come to do Mine own will, but 
the will of Him that sent Me." 

vi. 57. "As the living Father hath sent Me and 
I live by the Father." 

vii. 16. "My teaching is not Mine, but His that 
sent Me." 

ix. 4. "I must work the works of Him that sent 
Me." 

xii. 49. "I have not spoken of Myself, but the 
Father which sent Me; He gave Me a command- 
ment what I should say and what I should speak :" 

xii. 50. "Even as the Father said unto Me, so I 
speak." 

xiv. 10. "The words that I speak unto you, I 
speak not of Myself, but the Father that dwelleth 
in Me, He doeth the works." 

In thus declaring the divine origin and authority 
of His words and works, He can appeal to the 



210 St. John: The Sent One. 

Father for confirmation by testimony or witness- 
bearing. To this He refers in the following texts : 

v. 36. "The works that the Father hath given 
Me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness 
of Me that the Father hath sent Me." 

v. 37. "And the Father Himself that hath sent 
Me hath borne witness of Me." 

viii. 18. "The Father that sent Me beareth wit- 
ness of Me." 

A further group of texts shows the unbroken 
communion between the Father and the Son : 

vii. 18. "He that seeketh His glory that sent 
Him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is 
in Him." 

vii. 28. "He that sent Me is true." 

vii. 29. "I am from Him that sent Me." 

vii. 33. "I go unto Him that sent Me." 

viii. 16. "I am' not alone, but I and the Father 
that sent Me." 

viii. 29. "He that sent Me is with Me: the 
Father hath not left Me alone." 

After studying such a collection of statements, 
new force will be added to the closing words xx. 21, 
"As the Father hath sent Me, so send i you." Do 
we understand the position? Do we accept the 
equipment? Do we take up the work and the testi- 
mony, regardless of the consequences to ourselves? 



St. John: The Sent One. 211 

Do we believe in the "presence," so that we can say, 
"I am not alone?" 

To review the subject in a few words: 

The Lord was upholding all things in creation by 
the word of His power, for by Him all things were 
consisting. He was the Master Workman (Prov. 
viii. 30, R. V.,) diligent, competent, responsible. 
But the time came when, at the Father's bidding, 
He should give up all work, with its glory and 
honour, and come in the likeness of man, to under- 
take an altogether different work — that of making 
atonement for sin. 

For this He was set apart by the Father, and by 
Him filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the mean- 
ing of "sanctified," in John x. 6. No idea of unholi- 
ness is attached to the phrase; simply the idea of 
one set apart, fitted, filled, for the carrying out of a 
divine plan in and for the world, to accomplish 
which, He relinquished the position hitherto oc- 
cupied. 

When the work was about to be accomplished, 
He prayed, "Father, glorify Thou Me with the 
glory which I had with Thee before the world was." 
He prayed to be received back into the position 
originally occupied by Him. When He ascended, 
how superb the welcome back! how magnificent the 
acclamations of the unfallen heavenly hosts ! 



212 St. John: The Sent One. 

"behold the lamb of god/' 

This statement of John the Baptist must have pro- 
duced much thought and stirring expectation in the 
minds of pious and well-taught Jews. The use of 
the word Lawtb would naturally turn their minds 
back to the occasions in their ceremonial law, when 
the lamb was to be offered in sacrifice. Each of these 
would suggest some phase of divine requirement 
met by divine command and provision, and used 
as such by faith. The great sentence falling from 
the preacher's lips would prove to be the answer, at 
last to the question of Isaac to his father Abraham, 
when going up to Mount Moriah, as found in Gen. 
xxii. 7, 8, "Where is the lamb for the burnt- 
offering f" To this Abraham had replied, "God will 
provide Himself a lamb;" and all down the centuries 
that Lamb of God's providing had been waited for, 
and watched for, by succeeding generations of be- 
lievers. At length, the announcement rang out — 
Behold! Look ! thene is the Lamb of God — the Lamb 
predicted, foreshadowed, fore-ordained — who will 
take away the sin of the world. It was startling, as- 
tonishing ! Who ever dreamt of the world's sin being 
taken away? This thought was the thought of God, 
higher than the highest Jewish expectation or dream. 
How the Baptist must have meditated upon the 
Scriptures that would suggest to his mind the work 



St. John: The Sent One. 213 

and atonement of the Coming One ! How he would 
group text with text, as, led by the Spirit, he was 
being prepared for his great mission. 

Seven different occasions are found in which the 
lamib of old was used in sacrifice. 

1. The Passover Lamb, Exod. xii. — This was the 
greatest fact in past Jewish history. It was the re- 
demption of the nation from Egyptian bondage and 
degradation. Now has come the Lamb of God to 
redeem the world from sin's bondage, a far wider 
horizon line of blessing than Jew r s had dared to 
imagine. 

2. The Daily Burnt-offering Lamb, Exod. xxix. — 
Morning and evening this sacrifice was offered, 
throughout the year. It would form the constant 
reminder of God's protection and watchfulness over 
His people, for whose welfare He had made Himself 
responsible. So again is suggested One who has 
come to be the watchful Saviour of His redeemed. 

3. The Peace-offering Lamb, Lev. iii. — This sac- 
rifice was a special illustration of communion. 
Jehovah's portion was first presented and offered 
on the altar. The remainder was partaken of by 
the priest and the offerer, and thus the whole was 
consumed in the presence of God. Christ is the 
meeting-place between God and the worshipper: 
"He is our Peace." 



214 St. John: The Sent One. 

4. The Sin-offering Lamb, Lev. iv. — Under cer- 
tain circumstances, a lamb was to be brought by 
the individual for his sin against God. 

5. The Trespass-offering Lamb, Lev. v. — And in 
a similar way, for individual trespass, a lamb was 
to be offered, and thus expiation was made for sin. 
It is to Christ the individual sin must be confessed, 
day by day, that communion with God may be main- 
tained. While the world's sin has been taken away, 
and in this is included the individual's sin, yet there 
is need for daily confession and dealing definitely 
with the Lord over special acts of sin. 

6. The Lamb for the cleansing of the Leper, 
Lev. xiv. — In the ceremony for the cleansing of the 
leper, a lamb was to be offered as a sin-offering. 
This ceremony was one of restoration to place and 
position in the camp. The disease had attacked a 
man ; he had been isolated ; prayed for ; cured prob- 
ably by divine interposition, and then had to be cere- 
monially cleansed, and thus re-introduced to the con- 
gregation. 

7. The Wave-sheaf Lamb, Lev. xxiii. — All the 
foregoing ceremonies have depicted death — the 
death of the lamb for sin. In this last ceremony, 
resurrection was set forth by the presentation of 
the first ripe sheaf of barley to God, the first fruits 
of the harvest. With it was offered the lamb for 



St. John: The Sent One. 215 

the sin-offering, thus connecting death and resur- 
rection. 

Putting all these seven typical scenes together, 
there will be found a full expansion of "Behold the 
Lamb of God !" 



Chapter XII. 

THE CLOSING WEEK— THE CRUCIFIXION 
AND SUPERSCRIPTION. 

EACH Portrait of the Lord closes with the 
account of the Crucifixion, Resurrection and 
Ascension. Without these stupendous facts, no 
blessing could come to a lost world. The King 
rejected must die on behalf of the nation that has 
spurned Him, in order that He hereafter may be 
able to assert His rights to rule, based on redemp- 
tion. 

The Servant, so patient, devoted, successful, 
winsome, must be removed by death, His min- 
istry refused, His love rejected; but that He might 
the more effectually serve and save, for it is written, 
"The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, 
but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for 
many." He will die as the ransom- for all, and 
thus perform the most wonderful service. 

The Son of man, compassionate, tender, faithful, 
sympathetic and at any one's disposal, must be re- 
jected at the hands of man, who will prefer Barabbas 
the murderer to Jesus the Saviour, and He must 
die, that He may still "receive sinners and eat with 
them," and they hereafter be received by Him in His 

216 



rrrr 1 



The Closing Week. 217 

own home and sit down redeemed and cleansed at 
His table. 

The Son of God came from the bosom of the 
Father, the Word, who was God, who was the 
Lamb of God, and though revealing the glory of 
God in the grace of God, must bear trie sin of the 
world, and be made the curse. He can only save 
by shedding His blood and giving His life a ransom. 
St. John records perhaps the most startling state- 
ment of His concerning His death, in the words 
of x. 17, 18, "Therefore doth My Father love Me, 
because I lay down My life that I might take it 
again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down 
of Myself : I have power to lay it down, and I have 
power to take it again ; this commandment have 
I received from My Father." 

He died not as an example, not as a martyr, not 
having His life cut off by the hatred and malice of 
His foes ; but because He laid it down for the sin 
of the world. All the elements of human hate and 
cruelty were there, brought to the surface by the op- 
portunity afforded in His yielding Himself to the 
will of God and to the purpose that had been agreed 
upon before the world was. 

He lived the life pourtrayed, that He might die. 
He died that He might forgive sin. He rose from 
the dead that He might be able to save. He ascended 



218 The Closing Week. 

that He might impart His victory, through the Holy 
Spirit, to all believers. 

In this chapter, we shall seek to put clearly the 
order of the main events of the closing week, and 
then look into the different trials to which the Lord 
was subjected ere the final word was uttered, "Let 
Him be Crucified." 

Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to 
Bethany (John xii. i). As Passover fell upon the 
14th of the month, this opening date would be the 
8th Nisan. "There they made Him a supper." The 
place was the well-known house of Martha, Mary 
and Lazarus, and here the anointing took place, by 
Mary, that raised the storm of indignation as to the 
waste of money upon Him. 

The next day would be Sabbath Day — His 
last quiet day on earth, the lull before the tremen- 
dous storm that was about to burst upon Him. How 
that day was spent, and where, is unrecorded: 
whether He attended any synagogue service or not. 
Probably it was spent alone with God in the deep 
outpouring of His soul before the Father ere He 
went to finish that stupendous work that would se- 
cure the eternal Sabbath Day for His redeemed 
ones. 

The 10th Nisan was the day of the Triumphal 
Entry, commemorated as Palm Sunday in Church 



The Closing Week. 219 

festivals. All four writers describe it: Matt. xxi. 
i-ii, Mark xi. 1-10, Luke xix. 29-40, John xii. 12- 
19. It was the only temporary gleam of sunshine, 
the one brief national recognition of His Messiah- 
ship, fulfilling Zechariah's prophecy, and so soon 
crushed by the stern attitude and the remorseless 
hatred of the Pharisees and the other leaders of 
national life. The day was full of incident, how- 
ever : the desire of the Greeks to see Him, the Lord's 
utterances in connection therewith, the clear state- 
ment as to His approaching death, the Voice from 
heaven, sounding like a peal of thunder in the ears 
of the people. 

The nth Nisan found Him again in Jerusalem, 
the day opening with the withering of the fruitless 
fig-tree, Matt. xxi. 18-22, Mark xi. 12-14. 

The 1 2th and 13th Nisan were the last two days 
of His public ministry, when He delivered the clos- 
ing parables, and the solemn woes on the Pharisees. 
We cannot say how much can be apportioned to 
each of these days. The accounts are found in 
Matt, xxi.-xxv., Mark xi. 27-xiii., Luke xx., 
xxi. He farewelled the temple, never again to re- 
enter it (Matt, xxiii. 39), and gave the disciples, 
on the Mount of Olives, the foreview of the future 
of the city, temple and nation, concluding with the 
parables of Matt. xxv. 



220 The Closing Week. 

It was probably on the morning of the 13th 
that He sent Peter and John into the city to make 
preparations for the Passover. In the evening, they 
all met, after 6 p. m., and ate the Passover Supper, 
thus conforming to the Old Testament regulations, 
that the supper was to be eaten between the two 
evenings, that is, according to Jewish reckoning, 
between 6 p. m. of the 13th and 6 p. m. of the 14th. 
The suggestion we make is that the Lord partook 
of Passover between 6 and 9 p. m. on the evening 
of the 13th, while the populace kept Passover Supper 
between 3 and 6 of the afternoon of the 14th. The 
details of this Passover Supper and subsequent dis- 
courses, together with the institution of the Lord*9 
Supper, will be found in Matt. xxvi. 17-35, Mark 
xiv. 12-31, Luke xxii. 7-38, John xiii.-xvii. 

About midnight, the Lord and the disciples ar- 
rived at Gethsemane, the agony and conflict took 
place, the betrayal by Judas and the arrest, between 
probably the hours of 12 and 3 a. m., Matt. xxvi. 36- 
56, Mark xiv. 32-52, Luke xxii. 39-53, John 
xviii. 1-12. 

The Trials. — How often, and before what trib- 
unals was the Lord tried? 

1. Before Annas, John xviii. 13. No details are 
given of what transpired then. It was probably 
very short and hurried, for Annas at once sent Him 
on to Caiaphas, the acting High Priest. 



The Closing Week. 221 

2. Before Caiaphas, Matt. xxvi. 57-75; Mark 
xiv. 55-75 ; Luke xxii. 54-62. During this trial oc- 
curred Peter's denial in the courtyard, and the 
scourging on the face with rods in the High Priest's 
palace. This was the fulfilment of Isaiah Hi. 14, 
"His visage was more marred than any man's." At 
this trial, the witnesses appeared with their false 
testimony, in which no two agreed, and then came 
the adjuration by the High Priest as to His being 
the Son of God. On His declaration that He was, 
the smiting and scourging followed, as before men- 
tioned. Thus the second trial ended, which was in 
preparation for the appearing of the prisoner before 
the Sanhedrim. 

3. Before the Council, or Sanhedrim, Luke 
xxii. 66-71. Shortly before 6 a. m., the Lord was 
taken before the Council, over which Caiaphas, as 
High Priest, presided. This accounts for a repeti- 
tion of some of the questions and answers. Only 
St. Luke gives the account of this trial. The object 
aimed at was gained, namely, an accusation of blas- 
phemy for saying He was the Son of God, with 
which to take Him before Pilate, the Roman gover- 
nor, and so secure His condemnation. 

4. Before Pilate, John xviii. 28-32. This 
writer gives us the account of the first appearance 
before Pilate, and tells how the accusation failed, 



222 The Closing Week. 

and the termination of the trial by the order, "Take 
ye Him and judge Him according to your law." He 
perceived at once that the accusation was religious 
and not political. Therefore he had no jurisdiction, 
and was evidently glad to get rid of the case so 
summarily. 

5. Before Pilate a second time, John xviii. 33- 
38; Matt, xxvii. n-14; Mark xv. 1-5; Luke xxiii. 
1-4. "Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall 
again y and called Jesus, and said unto Him, /Art 
Thou the king of the Jews?' " The conclusion of 
this trial was the verdict, "I find no fault in this 
man," Luke xxiii. 4. At this point, the fury in- 
creased tenfold, and in the fierce rage, the accusers 
mentioned the word Galilee: "He stirreth up the 
people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning 
from Galilee to this place." Again the Jewish party 
was foiled. Nothing in contravention of Roman 
law had been brought forward, nothing proved, and 
Pilate, glad to get the case clear of his court, sent 
Him to Herod, the king of Galilee, who was then 
in Jerusalem. 

6. Before Herod, Luke xxiii. 7-12. This part of 
the proceedings is noticed only by this writer, and 
he gives us very few details. In fact, little could 
have been said. He was questioned severely, but not 
an answer could be extracted from Him. Wit- 



The Closing Week. 223 

nesses there were none ; chief priests and scribes ve- 
hemently accused Him; but through it all, nothing 
was proved. In vain did they seek for some word 
from His own lips which might incriminate Him. 
Mockery and insult were heaped upon the silent 
sufferer; dumb He must be, if any are to be saved; 
speech will clear Him, but cannot clear sinners. So 
"He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a 
sheep dumb before her shearers, He opened not 
His mouth." The verdict at the end of this trial 
was, "Nothing worthy of death is done unto Him." 
Again all the charges have failed, and the case is 
thrown once more on Pilate. 

7. Before Pilate for the third time, Matt, xxvii. 
16-21 ; Mark xv. 6-14; Luke xxiii. 13-18; John xix. 
1-8. Again the case is re-opened, and Pilate has 
recourse to the custom of releasing a prisoner at 
the Passover feast, hoping in this way to get rid of 
the difficulty he is in. He knows perfectly well that 
there is nothing whatever that can be fairly dealt 
with under Roman law. Yet he knows equally well 
that an acquittal will render him so thoroughly un- 
popular as to threaten the retaining of his position 
under the Emperor of Rome. He will do anything 
he can to conciliate the roused populace, and yet he 
wants to save his prisoner from the fury of the 
nation. 



224 The Closing Week. 

The suggestion Pilate made again failed to ac- 
complish the purpose desired, and this seventh trial 
ended with the cry, "Not this man, but Barabbas !" 
At this stage, a. most iniquitous and inhuman order 
was given. Coupled with the release of Barabbas 
was the order to scourge Jesus. This was the in- 
fliction of thirty-nine lashes, by two Roman soldiers, 
on the bare back, with thongs of leather, into which 
sharp bits of brass or other metal were interwoven. 
The crowning with thorns was added to this awful 
punishment; the blindfolding and the striking with 
rods, accompanied by all the vile insult that hard- 
hearted heathen soldiers could invent; and yet the 
end had not quite come. No sentence had been de- 
livered by the tribunal, no accusation had been 
proved. Pilate held his hand, not knowing what 
turn events might take, and most probably secretly 
hoping that the awful scourging and accompanying 
treatment would satisfy the malicious hunger of the 
people. But it could not thus be. 

8. Before Pilate for the fourth time. In John 
xix. 8,9,* we read, "When Pilate therefore heard 
that saying ('He made Himself the Son of God'), he 
was the more afraid, and went again into the judg- 
ment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art Thou ?" 
He is compelled once more to re-open the trial, and 
almost succeeds in delivering Him, for verse 12 tells 



The Closing Week. 225 

us, "From thenceforth, Pilate sought to release 
Him." 

But a new cry is started — no longer a religious 
one, but a. political one — "If thou let this man go, 
thou art not Caesar's friend," and "We have no king 
but Csesar." The claim to kingship that is brought 
up, and the apparently new ground for investigation 
and action, brings matters to a climax. Pilate 
trembles for his position, and without much delay 
gives the final verdict, "Let Him be crucified." 

A careful study of the different accusations and 
pleas brought forward will bring out very strongly 
the hatred and deceit of the human heart in its 
antagonism to God. It is "desperately wicked, " and 
nowhere is this more manifest than at the Cross. 
Yet 

"The love of God is stronger 
Than the measure of man's mind." 

Through it all, and above it all, towered that stu- 
pendous love that made atonement for the very sins 
that were being committed in the sentencing of Jesus 
to the cross. 

Sin, Satan, Death press near 

To harass, and appall; 
Let but my bleeding Lord appear 

Backward they go and fall. 

He hell, in hell, laid low, 

Made sin, He sin o'erthrew; 
Bowed to the grave, destroyed it so. 

And death, by dying, slew. 



226 The Closing Week. 

Bless, bless the Conqueror slain. 

Slain by Divine decree; 
Who lived, who died, who lives again 

For thee, His saint, for thee. 

And 1 all down the centuries has rung the great song 
that shall ring on for eternity, "God forbid that I 
should glory save in the cross of my Lord Jesus 
Christ." 

THE SUPERSCRIPTION. 

Not one of the four evangelists gives the full text 
of the Superscription. The Roman custom was to 
nail over the head of the executed criminal his name 
and crime, so that all spectators might see who, and 
what, he was. 

Bearing in mind what has been said, in previous 
chapters, as to the reasons for each gospel being 
written, we may trace a further confirmation in the 
wording of this part of the story of the Cross. 

St. Matthew calls this His accusation (xxvii. 
37), and states it, "This is Jesus, the King of the 
Jews." His was the gospel for Jews, and the gospel 
of the kingdom specially. He has given the story of 
the birth, the heralding, the attack, His teaching the 
laws of the kingdom, proving His power as King, 
the official rejection as King and denunciation as a 
blasphemer. Naturally, the accusation will be that 
of claiming to be the King of the Jews, for which 



The Closing Week. 227 

He is suffering the death penalty under the sentence 
of the Roman government. 

St. Mark writes of "The superscription of His 
accusation' (xv. 26) thus, "The King of the Jews/' 
He has pourtrayed the Servant of Jehovah, working 
through that strenuous short period, healing, help- 
ing, saving, teaching, praying and loving. And 
now over the cross stands the simple truth in the 
shortest phrase, which has been made the reason 
for the cutting short of that life of strange useful- 
ness and service. The Servant of God is condemned 
for declaring what He is, though He has never 
claimed the postion of King, for He came "not to 
be ministered unto, but to minister." 

St. Luke uses the expression "A superscription' 3 
(xxiii. 35), and phrases it "This is the King of the 
Jews." It is written over the head of the wondrous 
Man, the Prophet and Teacher, the man of quench- 
less sympathy and tireless love. The only de- 
scendant from David that could prove His right 
to the title and position, He has used His oppor- 
tunity to be the Man amongst men, saving many 
and bringing them nearer to God. It has not been 
the aim and purpose of His life to be crowned as 
King of the Jews ; quite the contrary. It is a 
superscription. 

St. John gives us another variation," and calls it 
"A title" (xix. 19), and describes it thus, "Jesus of 



228 The Closing Week. 

Nazareth, the King of the Jews." He has written 
to declare that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God; 
he therefore carefully preserves the term of humilia- 
tion and reproach — "of Nazareth," — and connects 
it with the accusation, and defines carefully the 
Person accused. 

The full sentence probably was, "This is Jesus 
of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." The name in 
full and the crime in full, written in Hebrew, Greek 
and Latin. These three languages would convey 
to three distinct classes the great fact that God 
would have the world know concerning Jesus. 

Hebrew would attract the notice of the educated 
religious section of the concourse then present : they 
shall read in the language of their sacred Scriptures 
the sacred Name and the solemn fact that they have 
all along denied. 

Greek was the spoken language of the market 
and the common people. They shall read, then, in 
their everyday tongue, the superscription over that 
bowed head. 

Latin was the language of the government of 
Rome, and the governing powers shall know who, 
and what, He is who hangs upon the tree of curse. 

In this unexpected manner, then, is proclaimed to 
the world the truth of John iii. 16 : "God so loved 
the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that 



The Closing Week, 229 

whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but 
have eternal life/" 

I HEAR TEN THOUSAND VOICES. 

I hear ten thousand voices singing 

Their praises to the Lord most high; 
Far distant shores and hills are ringing 

With anthems of their nations' joy, — 
"Praise ye the Lord! for He has given 

To lands in darkness hid His light, 
As morning rays light up the heaven, 

His Word has chased away our night." 

On China's shores I hear His praises 

From lips that once kissed idol stones; 
Soon as His banner He upraises, 

The Spirit moves the breathless bones: 
"Speed, speed Thy Word o'er land and ocean, 

The Lord in triumph has gone forth; 
The nations hear with strange emotion, 

From East to West, from South to North." 

The song has sounded o'er the waters, 

And India's plains re-echo joy; 
Beneath the moon sit India's daughters 

Soft singing as the wheel they ply; 
"Thanks to Thee Lord, for hopes of glory, 

The peace on earth to us revealed; 
Our cherished idols fall before Thee, 

Thy Spirit has our pardon sealed." 

On Afric's sunny shore, glad voices 

Wake up the morn of Jubilee; 
The negro, once a slave, rejoices, 

Who's freed by Christ, is doubly free. 
*"Sing, Brothers, sing! yet many a nation 

Shall hear the voice of God and live; 
E'en we are heralds of salvation, 

The Word He gave we'll freely give." 



230 The Closing Week. 

Fair are New Zealand's wooded mountains, 

Deep glens, blue lakes, and dizzy steeps; 
But sweeter than the murmuring fountains 

Rises the song from holy lips; 
"By blood did Jesus come to save us, 

So deeply stained with brothers' blood; 
Our hearts we'll give to Him who gave us 

Deliverance from the fiery flood." 

O'er prairies wild, the song is spreading, 
Where once the war-cry sounded long; 

But now the evening sun is shedding 
His rays upon a praying throng. 

"Lord of all worlds, Eternal Spirit! 
Thy light upon our darkness shed; 

For Thy dear love, for Jesus' merit, 
From joyful hearts be worship paid." 

Hark! Hark! a louder sound is booming 

O'er heaven and earth, o'er land and sea; 
The angel's trump proclaims His coming — 

Our day of endless jubilee: 
"Hail to Thee Lord! Thy people praise Thee; 

In every land Thy name we sing; 
On heaven's eternal throne upraise Thee, 

Take Thou Thy power Thou glorious King." 

H. W. Fox. 



Chapter XIII. 
THE RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION. 

The Resurrection. 

THERE is no day in the year like Easter 
Sunday, for joy fulness, hope, and a strong 
sense of "life abundantly." The Lord risen is the 
Lord triumphant, ascended, and returning to ac- 
complish the purpose of God in this world. When 
a loved one dies, how keen is the sense of loss ; those 
lips never again to speak their words of love and 
sympathy! that mind no more to plan and execute 
schemes of help and blessing to others ! Now all 
that has been said and done has come to an end, and 
by degrees the old words lose their power, and the 
promises made can never be fulfilled. 

Such was the awful blank made in the lives of 
the disciples when the Lord Jesus died, and they 
had no hesitation in voicing the utter hopelessness 
of their hearts. "We had hoped that it was He who 
should redeem Israel." What, then, was the Resur- 
rection but the raising of all their hopes, of all His 
words, of all the promises He had ever uttered. 
Nothing He had said is lost — all is raised up with 
Him, and possesses a new force in consequence. 
231 



2$2 The Resurrection and Return. 

There is no more interesting study than the events 
in connection with the resurrection, and their his- 
torical order. 

HOW DOES HE APPEAR, AND TO WHOM. 

First. To Mary Magdalene, in the garden by 
Calvary. It would appear that very early in the 
morning, she, with several other women, had gone 
to the sepulchre for the purpose of further anointing 
the body. On arrival, they found the stone rolled 
away, and the tomb empty, and the angelic guard 
in possession, who announced the resurrection, and 
gave them directions to hasten back and inform the 
disciples. Mary Magdalene must have hurried alone 
to the house of Peter and John, who immediately 
ran to see for themselves, and found it to be as she 
had said. 

On their retiring, she had remained still puzzled, 
with streaming eyes, gazing into the tomb. Life 
for her without her Lord was hardly worth living. 
The dead body would bring her a measure of relief, 
could she but know where to find it. Then came 
the sudden, beautiful, unexpected revelation of the 
risen Lord, for the moment mistaken, by her, for 
the gardener. Tears were dried, love sprang up 
into a holy flame — and she was the first evangelist 
of the new hope, the forerunner of the risen Lord, 
commissioned by His own lips to announce the great 



The Resurrection and Return. 233 

fact. All the words that had been heard from His 
lips are alive again. His "Come unto Me," "Neither 
do I condemn thee," "None shall pluck them out 
of My hand," are instinct with meaning and power. 
She had called Him by His name of Lord ; she had 
believed that God had raised Him from the dead, 
and she was saved — from her sorrow, gloom, dif- 
ficulty, loneliness and everything else. Rom. x. 9 
had its first illustration, "If thou shalt confess, with 
thy mouth, Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thine 
heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou 
shalt be saved." 

Second. To the other women, who, in the mean- 
time, had gone on their way to seek the other 
disciples, specially the apostles, to convey to them 
the message, does He appear. On the road, the 
Lord met them with the "All hail" (Matt, xxviii. 
9, 10), and gave them the charge to go and remind 
the disciples, whom He calls "My brethren," of the 
appointment to meet Him in Galilee on a certain 
day He had previously fixed. There seems no doubt 
but that, by reminding them of the words He had 
spoken in their hearing many times, He hoped to 
kindle their faith in the literal interpretation of His 
promise, "On the third day I shall rise again." But 
the women's words seemed to them as idle tales, 
and they believed them not. The most precious 



234 The Resurrection and Return. 

truth for the times, namely, the resurrection, was 
misunderstood by the disciples, explained away, and 
so became powerless to effect in their hearts the 
very revival they were so sorely needing. Is there 
any parallel to the attitude of disciples today towards 
the truth most needed, namely, the promise of the 
return of the Lord personally? Is not this just as 
much misunderstood, and unexpected, and treated 
as an idle tale? 

Third. To Simon Peter. The apostle Paul, in 
i. Cor. xv. 5, states that "the Lord appeared to 
Simon/' This is referred to in Luke xxiv. 34. 
When, where and how, we have no record. Why? 
His failure in the denial of his Master, followed by 
the melting look of love from that Master, had cre- 
ated a deeper need in his soul than in that of any 
other disciple. For him, the Lord has the most af- 
fectionate longing ; He must seek him out to comfort 
him, reassure him, remove all sense of guilt, impart 
the results of the atonement now accomplished, 
namely, the remission of sins. The most needy one 
shall hear the first message ; hence the broken heart 
is the first to be bound up, and the tears of repent- 
ance and bitter remorse shall be the first to be wiped 
away. 

Fourth. In the evening of this wondrous day, the 
two disciples, who had spent the day in Jerusalem, 



The Resurrection and Return. 235 

were wending their way home to Emmaus. They 
had come, hoping against hope, for comfort, light 
and cheer amid the awful depression produced by 
the events of Calvary. But they were filled with 
sadness on account of the strange and contradictory 
rumours that were in circulation. The brethren, as 
a body, were certain the Lord could not have been 
raised from the dead. None of them had seen Him 
— yet the grave was empty; the women had been 
there and found it so, and had added that they had 
seen and spoken with angels, who affirmed that He 
was alive. The state of the grave-clothes, undis- 
turbed in their folds, went to prove that no human 
hand had taken away the body, otherwise the grave- 
clothes would have disappeared also, or at least been 
left in disorder. So fully had the idea taken pos- 
session of them that He could not rise from the 
dead, that the proofs that He had done so were 
powerless to convince them. Such is the blinding 
power of unbelief; it makes men irrational and il- 
logical, when they think that they are particularly 
clear in their reasoning faculties and their logical 
conclusions. While in this state, the Lord drew 
near and joined in their conversation, spending the 
time in expounding to them, from the Old Testa- 
ment Scriptures, the things concerning Himself. 
Thus the written Word prepared the way for the 



236 The Resurrection and Return. 

living Word. It was the evening meal, in the 
breaking of bread, that He revealed Himself to their 
wondering gaze. They opened their home; He 
opened the Scriptures, then their understandings, 
and then their eyes, so that they returned, the same 
evening, to the upper room meeting to announce 
that He was risen from the dead. 

Fifth. To THE COMPANY IN THE UPPER ROOM, 

when a number (not only the ten apostles) were 
met together, most of them still in doubt, and dis- 
cussing the question of the resurrection, the Lord 
suddenly appeared with the gracious salutation, 
"Peace be unto you/' followed by the invitation to 
handle Him, and see whether He were not indeed 
the crucified Lord. Compare the two accounts given 
in Luke xxiv. 36-40 and John xx. 19-23, for all the 
details of this scene. The first declaration of peace 
was in connection with the cross, and all that the 
cross had accomplished for them. The second 
declaration of peace was followed by the words, 
"Receive ye the Holy Ghost/' and the commission to 
be sent into the world by the Lord, as He had been 
sent by the Father. 

The life of the Sent One, with its utter self-nega- 
tion, surrender to God, dependence on God for the 
words to speak, work to do, guidance in all details, 
and with the great equipment of the infilling and 



The Resurrection and Return. 237 

indwelling of the Holy Spirit, had been before them. 
They are now to be launched out in the same work, 
with the same divine power and fitness, to live a 
similar life of utter self-efifacement, to the glory of 
God. 

On this blessed Easter day, then, He has appeared 
to one, to two, to many. He has revealed Himself 
in a garden, by the roadside, in a private house, at 
a meeting of disciples. He has come in exquisite 
grace and tenderness to a sorrowing, lonely, broken- 
hearted one, full of love to Him for what He has 
done for her, when, finding her in the awful power 
of the enemy, He had delivered her from Satanic 
power, and how "He satisfies the longing soul." 

Had He not said, "Where two or three are gath- 
ered together in My Name, there am I in the midst 
of them?" And now, as He sees the women 
hastening to announce Him to the brethren, He 
joins them,, and appears to them, thus fulfilling His 
promise. Similarly, in the Emmaus home, as those 
heads were bowed, and thanks were given to God 
for the food before them, and those hearts had been 
fired by His own matchless exposition of Scripture, 
were they not met together in His Name, though 
unbelief had clouded the vision, and doubt had pre- 
vented full recognition? Still His promise held 
good. He is there, and the revelation that burst 
upon them filled them with joy unspeakable. 



238 The Resurrection and Return. 

Or again, is there a heart overweighted by sin 
and failure, broken down under an awful sense of 
hopeless despair, and stricken by the silence of 
Calvary? He, the risen One, will seek him out, and 
will manifest to him, first of all of the band of men, 
the triumph over sin and guilt and shame, and give 
to Simon Peter the kiss of reconciliation. It is the 
secret welcome of love to a repenting but loving 
disciple. 

And lastly, as they gather in that most sacred 
spot, the upper room, where He had last met them 
and given them those exquisitely tender words re- 
corded in John xiv., xv. and xvi., He takes His 
accustomed place, presides over their meeting, begins 
it with the benediction, and continues it as a blessed 
experience meeting for all, and any, who will touch 
Him with the finger of faith. 

Such is the picture of the risen Lord, and He is 
the same yesterday, today and for ever. Expect to 
meet Him by the roadside, in the garden, at the 
supper-table, in the home, in the assembly of the 
people of God, or when bowed down under an op- 
pressive sense of failure and sin. He comes. He 
appears — the victor over your sin, the comforter 
in your sorrow, the only satisfaction for a lonely, 
loving heart, to make glad and strong, to baptize in 
the Holy Ghost, and to commission for work in the 



The Resurrection and Return. 239 

world. Expect Him, and He will appear. He is 
the Lord of gladness, the Giver of joy, and the 
Restorer of life to all. 

Sixth. To the same company with Thomas. 
"But Thomas, called Didymus, one of the twelve, 
was not with them when Jesus came" (John xx. 24). 
During the week ushered in by Easter Sunday, the 
events of that evening meeting had been made 
known to Thomas. Glowing with hope and love, 
some of them had probably described the whole 
scene, telling of the sudden quiet appearing, the 
salutation of benediction, the offer for any of them 
to handle Him and see that it was truly Himself, 
and the showing of His hands and feet, pierced by 
the nails. All had been unbelieving up to that even- 
ing meeting; now Thomas, possibly not more un- 
believing than the rest, and certainly quite as af- 
fectionate, feels hardly able as yet to believe the 
wondrous news. He longs to do so, but he needs 
proof as fully corroborative as they had had, and 
says so, "Except I shall see in His hands the print 
of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the 
nails, and thrust my band into His side, I will not 
believe." He asks for the same tests as they have 
had for the confirmation of the fact, so intensely im- 
portant and almost impossible. Thomas fears any 
deception, any raising of hopes to be dashed to the 



240 The Resurrection and Return. 

ground again, as already his had been. Strong in 
his love and devotion to his Lord, he cannot bear the 
thought of any possible mistake; hence his attitude 
toward the announcement. 

Maybe he has been a little unfairly held up as an 
example of great unbelief and doubt. In reality, he 
was not more so than any of his companions. So, on 
the following Sunday evening, when in the same 
upper room, they were met together, and Thomas 
was with them, the gracious Lord appeared on the 
scene, and immediately offered to him the same 
opportunity of testing the reality of the resurrec- 
tion as had been accorded to the others — "Reach 
hither thy finger and see my hands/' etc. It was 
the gracious act of the Master to meet a disciple's 
difficulty. Then came the most magnificent declar- 
ation recorded from the lips of a disciple that week, 
"My Lord and my God." This was the utterance 
of abandonment of life to Christ as God, the domi- 
nation over him, not of love only, but of life and 
power. So complete, unique and splendid has been 
the victory over death and the grave, that heaven 
has opened over his soul, and he is bathed in the 
sunshine of the face of God. A risen Christ has 
for ever chased away all the clouds of doubt and 
gloom. 

The seventh appearing recorded is found in John 
xxi. 1-14, and must be taken in connection with 



The Resurrection and Return, 241 

some verses in Matthew's gospel. In chapter xxvi. 
32, the Lord, while going up the Mount of Olives, 
after the Passover Supper, said to the disciples, 
"After I am raised up, I will go before you into 
Galilee." Evidently, He had made an appointment 
with a large number of the believing men in Galilee 
to meet Him on a certain day, in a certain place. 
They would have had no idea of the events to trans- 
pire in Jerusalem, for only to the inner company of 
disciples had the Lord announced His approaching 
death and resurrection. To these country disciples 
it would, therefore, be a simple arrangement for 
another visit to be paid by their Lord some weeks 
hence. Reminding the eleven of this, in order to 
stay their hearts in the approaching hours of awful 
darkness and death, He wended His way to Gethse- 
mane. On the Easter Sunday morning, the angels 
bid the women at the tomb go and tell the disciples, 
"He is risen from the dead, lo! He goeth before you 
into Galilee." It was a gracious message to re- 
kindle faith in Him: by reminding them of the ap- 
pointment (Matt, xxviii. 7). This was further con- 
firmed by the Lord Himself, Who, meeting the 
women on the way, said to them, "Go, tell My 
brethren that they depart into Galilee; there shall 
they see me" (xxviii. 10). Strange how powerless 
were the words to quicken faith and rekindle hope. 



242 The Resurrection and Return. 

"Their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they 
believed them not." The Lord had made most 
beautiful arrangements to keep faith alive. Alas! 
that unbelief should win the day. 

In John xxi. is the beginning of the story that 
tells of the keeping of the appointment by the 
disciples. Seven of them have gone north to await 
Him, and be at the meeting convened, and have ar- 
rived at the shore of the lake over night. How shall 
they spend the interval ? Very naturally, Peter sug- 
gests a turn at the old boat and a night's fishing. 
Was it an act of declension? Did it indicate any 
impatience or lack of love and obedience? Thinking 
of the circumstances, what more simple than thus to 
spend the time. The ready acquiescence of the 
others, some of whom were not fishermen, points 
rather to this view of occupying themselves till 
morning, than to an idea of declension of heart, as 
has so often been asserted. True, they caugfit 
nothing ; but what of the conversation of those seven 
men through the night? Would not Nathaniel and 
Thomas have much to talk over, and may not the 
night have been, after all, well spent for spiritual 
edification, a far more important purpose than 
catching fish? If success only means proof of being 
in the right place, there have been many more 
serious times than this. 



The Resurrection and Return. 243 

In the morning early, on the beach, stands the 
figure, but dimly perceived in the haze, of the risen 
Lord hailing them in the boat, asking after their 
welfare, taking an interest in the passing occupation 
of the hour, and lovingly enquiring about them, 
with an additional suggestion to gladden their 
hearts with success in their work, "Cast the net on 
the right side of the ship, and ye shall find." It 
was the Lord entering into their pursuits for the 
time being, and utilizing them for His gracious 
purposes, for He wants a big haul of fish, and He 
finds the men ready for the work and delighted to 
be of service. Then came the unveiling of the un- 
known form, "It is the Lord! 3 Little they expected 
Him to be round there so early and watching them 
so keenly; nay, more, He has foreseen their needs, 
got the fire lighted on the shore, the bread and 
fish are cooked for them, and now He invites them, 
hungry, yet cheery, to "Come and breakfast." He 
is the servant still, waiting on His disciples, loving 
them, caring for them, and stooping in infinite com- 
passion to give them a hearty meal. So they have a 
preliminary meeting with Him, full of delight and 
joy; and then, at His bidding, the fish caught are 
gathered up and counted, for they will be wanted 
that day. 

Eighth. To the five hundred men. Is it not the 
day for the great convention of men only, arranged 



244 The Resurrection and Return. 

so many weeks ago? and has not the foresight of 
the Lord provided for the commissariat? "He 
knoweth our frame, He remembereth we are but 
dust.'' Xo record is given of the great meeting, 
save the one line in I Cor. xv. 6, "He appeared to 
five hundred brethren at once/'' Imagine the scene. 
A great gathering of eager, expectant men from all 
over the country, some of whom have heard the 
strange tidings of the Passover events in Jerusalem ; 
how there had been the execution of three supposed 
criminals on Calvary by the Roman governor, one 
of whom was their beloved Master. Some of them, 
too, had been up for the Passover feast, and had 
seen it all, hardly able to believe their eyes — not a 
voice or hand raised on His behalf — and yet, He 
had made an appointment to meet them all on that 
special day. 

Was He really coming? Was He alive? Had 
He triumphed? What did it all mean? Keen ex- 
pectation, intense excitement were there, and then, 
in twos and threes, or tens and twenties, they gather 
together. Can you see any of them? There come 
up the hill the sick of the palsy that was, and his 
four bearers; just behind, the young man from 
Xain and his little party of bearers ; yonder, the 
two men from Gadara, rejoicing in God ; the Samari- 
tan leper, who has never let that loud voice of his 



The Resurrection and Return. 245 

get quiet; Bartimeus and Zaccheus from Jericho; 
the mam whose right hand had been withered; the 
demoniac in the synagogue, who had disturbed 
the service; the leper from the hillside; the noble- 
man and his son from Cana of Galilee; some of 
the Samaritans probably who had met Him after 
the memorable interview of John iv. ; then from 
Jerusalem there may have been the impotent man 
from the Pool of Bethesda, the blind man of the 
Pool of Siloam, Lazarus of Bethany, Nicodemus, 
and Councillor Joseph ; in short, a splendid gather- 
ing of men who have been partakers of His blessing 
in past year, all trophies of His grace, now sum- 
moned to a meeting where they may see His face 
and together hear His voice for the last time on 
earth. 

And what will be the topic of the day's conven- 
tion? Surely the purpose in the Lord's mind must 
have been that He Himself should explain to this 
great company the meaning of His death and 

RESURRECTION, AND THE ADVENT OF THE HOLY 

Spirit. To none, apparently, had He disclosed the 
great fact and purpose of the Atonement. All that 
He had passed through appeared to be but Jewish 
hate, malice and rejection, now so wonderfully coun- 
teracted by the resurrection. But to these believers 
might it not have been a blessed purpose and a neces- 



246 The Resurrection and Return. 

sary thing for Him to meet them and declare the 
unsearchable riches of His grace. How every eye 
would be riveted on Him ! How every word would 
tell ! How strange for them to hear of the forgive- 
ness of sins, of the gospel of remission of sins for 
all, of the great thoughts of God in redemption. How 
grandly must the cross have shone out before their 
eyes, and how superb now to faith the marred form, 
the thorn-crowned brow, the pierced hands and 
feet of Emmanuel. The whole scene must have 
been one of surpassing power, tenderness and inter- 
est. The great farewell is taken by the Master of 
His disciples, and the. meeting dissolves. Back over 
the hills stream the crowds of men, fast breaking up 
into knots of twos and threes as they turn hither and 
thither on their homeward way. How will they 
describe the convention? What will be the report? 
Startling to opponents and enemies, the news that 
He Whom they thought dead is indeed alive and 
all-powerful ! Thus it is suggested the plans were 
laid for the reception of the Holy Spirit on the Day 
of Pentecost, the subsequent spread of the Truth, 
and the formation of the Church of God. 

Xinth. One more appearing is recorded, namely, 
"He was seen of James'' (1 Cor. xv. 7). How, or 

when, nothing is said. 

Tenth. And then came the closing scene, when 



The Resurrection and Return. 247 

He led the apostles out as far as Bethany, 
and while blessing them, was parted from 
them. How that last walk will live in their 
memories ! No eye saw Him but theirs, no passer- 
by mingled with the little group. It was a time of 
perfect, undisturbed quiet, and the climax, no doubt, 
wholly unexpected. The holy voice giving them the 
last words of gracious benediction, the form ascend- 
ing from their midst and soon lost to view, as a 
cloud hid Him from their sight. Will they never 
hear Him again, or see Him again? It is not death 
that has severed Him from them now, but Life, 

LIFE ABUNDANT, TRIUMPHANT and GLORIOUS Life 

to be poured forth in new forms and under new 
conditions ; Life to be communicable to a multitude 
throughout the world, when the Holy Spirit shall 
have come. 

Such are, in brief, the stories of the appearings 
of the risen Lord. We wait for the great and next 
appearing, when Lie will summon a great host to 
meet Him. The mountain in Galilee was one place 
of meeting, the air will be the next appointment. 
The whole Church will be there, trophies of His 
mighty grace and power gathered from all nations 
and climes. Lepers, blind, lame, deaf, dumb, 
demon-possessed, all delivered by Him — all having 
received the remission of sins; and the topic, the 
unfolding of the purposes of God through the Lord 



248 The Resurrection and Return, 

Jesus in the coming glory. Great things are yet to 
come out of the atonement, great triumphs will lie 
in the future, and the Church of God, redeemed and 
Spirit-filled, is to be the executive force through 
whom these glories will be achieved. 

THE ASCENSION. 

Of the Ascension, St. Matthew makes no mention 
at all. He closes his narrative with the personal 
promise of the presence, "Lo, I am with you alway." 
Though ascended, yet here in the power and author- 
ity of the Throne. 

St. Mark tells us "He was received up into 
heaven" (xvi. 19), — a strong contrast to the words 
of John i. 11, "He came unto His own, and His own 
received Him not." But he is to be received now on 
earth by faith into the hearts of believers as the 
ascended Lord, that they may become the Sons of 
God. "As many as received Him, to them gave He 
authority to become sons of God" (John i. 12). 

St. Luke says, "He was carried up into heaven" 
(xxiv. 51), and in his second account, in Acts i. 9, 
"He was taken up." The weeping Mary asked the 
gardener where he had borne the dead body, and the 
apostle Peter spoke, on the day of Pentecost, of 
those wicked hands that had taken and slain Him. 
Now heaven has reversed earth's verdict, and 



The Resurrection and Return. 249 

throughout the narrative there is impressed on the 
mind, first, the absolute dependence and obedience of 
the Son, though the risen Lord; and, secondly, the 
action of heaven versus the treatment on earth. The 
Son of God waited till He was sent for and carried 
up into heaven. He was raised up; He was 
taken up. 

We, too, wait till we are sent for, to be carried by 
the angels into the Lord's presence, or to be trans- 
lated by His sovereign pow r er and will and by the 
shout of His call. 

St. John makes no mention of the ascension, but 
quotes the many allusions to it that fell from our 
Lord's lips, such as vi. 62; vii. 33, 34, 39; viii. 14, 
21 ; xii. 26; xiv. 2, 12, 19, 28; xvi. 5, 7, 28; xx. 17. 

He has gone ; but He is to return, and to return 
by the way He went. 

THE SECOND ADVENT 

is the hope of the Church and the pledge of the 
blessing to the world. How do the four writers im- 
press this fact upon their readers? What are the 
prominent features of the Lord's testimony con- 
cerning it? 

St. Matthew, writing from the standpoint of the 
kingdom, gives us the parable in which the Marriage 
of the King's Son is referred to, and follows it with 



2^o The Re ;ji and Return. 

the parable of chap, xxv., containing the words, 
jom :ometh/ J continuing the 
report of the Lord's utterances till He reaches the 
climax, "When the Son of Man shall come in his 
glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall 
he sit upon the throne of his glory." The exhorta- 
tion based upon the statement is. Be watchful. Be 
ready. Have oil. He is coming to execute law, and 
govern in power. 

St. Mark, in chap. xiii. 35, specially emphasizes the 
phase of His coming as a Master returning to His 
household. In this passage only do we find the allu- 
sion to the four night-watches, in any one of which 
the Master may appear. It is one of those appa- 
rently simple statements that expands into great 
vistas of truth. The mention of the night-watches 
suggests a night time as the interval between the 
disappearance and reappearance of the Lord. In 
the night time work must be done by lamplight: 
hence the force of His words: "Ye are the light of 
the world"; "Let your loins be girded and your 
lamps burning, and be ye as men that wait for their 
Lord." When the sun rises night vanishes, and 
lamps vanish and the whole world is bathed in light. 

The division of the night into four watches — 
called Evening, Midnight, Cock-crowing,, Morning 

— suggests the enquiry, Does history supply any in- 



The Resurrection and Return, 251 

formation up to the present time bearing out this 
division ? The answer is that there are the clearest 
historical confirmations of such a division. 

When the Lord had died and gone from the sight 
of the world, the Holy Spirit descended after the 
Ascension, and kindled the lamps of the 120 disciples 
in the upper room, adding, by the evening of that 
day, 3,000 more. The events of Pentecost mark the 
first appointment of the Evening Watch of the 
Church. From that hour she began to watch for her 
returning Lord. The Apostle Peter refers to it in 
Acts iii. Later on the Apostle Paul preached it, and 
wrote his first two epistles specially on the subject, 
namely, 1st and 2d Thessalonians. 

How soon the dark shadows of night fell, in dis- 
sension, persecution, faction, division ! The apostles 
in their later writings give many hints of the dark- 
ening of the times. The early centuries passed on, 
and the Church all unconsciously passed from the 
evening watch into the Midnight Watch, better 
known in history as "The Dark Ages/' The Papal 
power rose to its height then, and boasted of having 
quenched all the light of Protestantism. Truly the 
lamps were hidden, if not extinguished. It was the 
period of gross darkness that covered all the people. 

Suddenly was heard the shrill "cock-crowing" of 
Martin Luther that awoke all Europe, and led to 



252 The Resurrection and Return. 

the retrimming and relighting many lamps, and 
kindling such a light as has never since been extin- 
guished. 

Yet the Master came not in the first, second, or 
third watch. By this we know we are in the "Morn- 
ing Watch," and are hereby exhorted all the more 
earnestly to be Waiting, Watching, Working, Wit- 
nessing, Warring. 

St. Luke, in chap. xix. 11-27, gives us the parable 
of the Pounds, in which the Lord represents Himself 
as coming back to a kingdom, having previously 
given to His servants their instructions as to occupy- 
ing with His business left to them. In the parable 
the main thought is, Position in the administration 
of the affairs of the future kingdom in proportion to 
faithfulness in service with what was entrusted to 
the servants. Diligence and faithfulness will be the 
keywords to the lesson here. Watchfulness is not to 
be idleness, nor theorizing about the coming, but 
the practical application of all one's powers in useful 
aggressive work for the absent Lord, according to 
His revealed will. 

In St. John's Gospel very little definite mention is 
made of this subject. In chap. xiv. 3 the Lord says, 
"If I go away, I will come again, and receive you 
unto myself." It is the thought of a Friend coming 



The Resurrection and Return. 253 

to meet and welcome friends as His guests, the fu- 
ture sharers of His home and estate. 

Putting all the different ideas together we 
have a returning Sovereign to take charge of a king- 
dom ; a glorious Person — a Bridegroom to claim and 
receive His Bride ; an Employer of servants to look 
into and reward faithfulness by promotion to a very 
much higher sphere of service; a Householder re- 
turning to His house; a Friend entertaining and 
welcoming His friends. 

Throughout Scripture much more will be found 
concerning the Lord's Return, but all may be 
grouped under these different heads, as given us in 
these four Gospels. 

"Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is 
not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know 
if he shall be manifested we shall be like him, for we 
shall see him even as he is" (1 John iii. 2). 

CHRIST RETURNETH. 



It may be at morn when the day is awaking, 

When sunlight through darkness and shadow is breaking, 

That Jesus will come in the fulness of glory, 
To receive from the world "His own." 

O Lord Jesus how long, how long, 

Ere we shout the glad song, 
Christ returneth, Hallelujah! 

Hallelujah! Amen. 



254 The Resurrection and Return. 

It may be at midnight, it may be at twilight, 

It may be, perchance, that the blackness of midnight 

Will burst into light, in the blaze of His glory, 
Vvnen Jesus receives "His own." 

"While hosts cry Hosanna, from heaven descending, 
With glorified saints and the angels attending, 

With grace on His brow like a halo of glory, 
Will Jesus receive "His own." 

Oh joy! Oh delight! should we go without dying, 
No sickness, no sadness, no dread, and no crying, 

Caught up through the clouds with our Lord in the glory, 
\ v hen Jesus receives "His own." 

H. L. Turner. 



APPENDIX 



What is the True Explanation of the 
Death of Christ? 



A great change has come over the habits of thought and 
expression in recent years, with regard to the evangelistic 
presentation of the Death of Christ. Many phrases, that 
were current coin at one time are seldom, if ever, heard 
now. The trend has been, and is, to deny, if not purposely 
to omit, the doctrine of the Atonement, that is the sacrifice 
of Chnist for sin. This change may partly be accounted for 
by objection to the phraseology of some popular hymns 
concerning the death and blood of Christ. In these days 
of keen criticism and close examination of statements, cer- 
tain of these phrases have necessarily and fairly come un- 
der close scrutiny, and have been pronounced untrue, 
coarse, misleading, and highly objectionable. This need 
create no surprise. It should, however, lead to all the 
closer enquiry as to what the Scripture actually does say, 
and not as to how hymn-writers describe these facts. 

One of the objections most frequently raised is to the 
statement that "the innocent suffered for the guilty." This 
is a very fair objection, inasmuch as there is no such state- 
ment to be found in Scripture. The association with the 
word "innocent" is that of ignorance. We speak of an in- 
nocent child, and we mean that the chidd has had no oppor- 
tunity of contact with evil knowledge, and has a mind pure 
in consequence. But such is not the fact when we have to 

255 



256 Appendix. 

describe the Son of God. He was pure and holy, but was 
fully aware of the whole awful condition of sin in which 
the world was, and which was infecting and destroying 
every human being. His was not the innocence of ignor- 
ance, but the purity of God. Therefore, the word "just" is 
the word used to describe Him. "He died the just for tihe 
unjust, that He might bring us to God." The word "just" 
implies a righteous mind, perfectly aware of the full ex- 
istence of sin, but uncontaminated by it. Hence the objec- 
tion falls to the ground that is raised against the "innocent 
suffering for the guilty." If He suffers with the full con- 
sciousness of all it would involve Him in, and with the full 
consent of His will, and by the fixed purpose of His own 
heart, no objection can be raised on the ground of fairness, 
or legality, or morality. 

The usual view-point of the death of Christ is in refer- 
ence to the provision for human need and to the salvation 
that is thus supplied. Let us, however, try and change the 
view-point altogether, and get the profound mystery of the 
Cross into another, and possibly a truer perspective. 

Let us imagine ourselves as spectators of the whole 
drama from a point of view remote from this world, and 
without having any personal relationship to the results of 
it. In the far-distant past, then, we see the commencement 
of the great work of Creation, when gradually the whole 
universe came into being under the Divine fiat, and under 
the control of the Son of God, who is called the "Word," 
and who is spoken of "as upholding all things by the word 
of His power." From the hand of God has sprung a per- 
fect creation. A perfect Creator must have a per- 
fect Law for the true government of His Universe. A per- 
fect Law must have a perfect Administration for its pro- 
tective policy, and equally for its punitive policy, should 



Appendix. 257 

any rebellion ever occur. A perfect Law must also have a 
perfect Penalty for its infraction. Such a government, 
with such perfection of law and executive, can have no 
room for mercy, in the case of any law-breakers. It can 
only fully carry out its own perfect policy, both in protec- 
tion and punishment. Any mere manifestation of mercy 
would be illegal, and therefore subversive of government. 
It would offer a premium to rebellion. Hence any mani- 
festation of mercy must be strictly legal, and can only be 
possible after there shall have been the full and righteous 
settlement of all the law's claims against law-breakers. 
Human justice must always be imperfect. Human law 
must have many loopholes for escape. No human admin- 
istration dare carry out law strictly as law. but must give 
chances, and be pitiful to those who are arrested and ar- 
raigned before it. But this is impossible with Divine law. 
The Throne of God is established on Judgment and Jus- 
tice. Righteousness is the foundation of that throne. 
Therefore, the administration of its government must be 
absolutely above suspicion of mere pity. 

In the due course of the Divine will and purpose, the 
creation of man occurred, under the terms of Genesis 
1 : 26, 27. God said : "Let us make man in our image after 
our likeness. So God created man in his own image, in 
the image of God created he him." In the book entitled 
"The Crises of the Christ," by Dr. Campbell Morgan, this 
statement has received very careful and helpful treatment. 
He explains how the word "image" means shadow, profile, 
and that there is not in the word the suggestion of similarity 
of material and essence. Therefore, too much must not be 
made of the expression, and more read into it than is war- 
ranted from the words used. A shadow represents some- 
thing, but is not the thing itself. It has nothing of the 



258 Appendix. 

substance of that of which it is the shadow. But before 
the creation of man had taken place, something else had 
transpired. In 1 Peter 1 : 18-20, it is stated that the Lord 
Jesus was the Lamb foreordained from before the founda- 
tion of the world. The word Lamb is only used in relation 
to our Lord in connection with sacrifice for sin. It has no 
other meaning. What, then, is suggested? Surely that 
long before the creation of man for this world, and long 
before this world was prepared for man, a council had 
been formed and an arrangement had been entered into 
that, in the event of such a thing as rebellion ever occur- 
ring in the world with its occupant man, the Son of God 
would hold Himself personally responsible to the divine 
government for such, taking upon Himself all the contin- 
gencies and liabilities in which the world might thereby be 
involved. "Fore-ordained to be the Lamb before the foun- 
dation of the world." To what a remote date this state- 
ment refers the purpose of the atonement! And why? Is 
there no connection betwen the creation of man in the im- 
age of God, namely, of the second person of the Trinity, 
and the purpose of that Person to be responsible for him 
and for the race in the event of the contingency of re- 
bellion? 

But the dire act of rebellion took place in the disobedi- 
ence to God's word and will, as recorded in Gen. 2 and 3. 
Yet how simple was the will of God for Man. Only one 
restriction was placed upon him ; but that one was sufficient 
to test his will and conscience toward God. Man fell; the 
law was broken; there was necessity for the maintenance 
of that law, and the vindication of the righteousness of the 
government that had enacted that law : the rebellion was in 
full view of the Universe. There were the countless myriads 
of unfallen loyal Intelligences and Angels that were specta- 



Appendix. 259 

tors of this rebellion. For them it was essential that the law 
should be maintained in all its efficiency and righteousness. 
Little is said in Scripture about this side of matters, but 
there is sufficient given to enable the mind to glimpse at 
the position. Under the words used by St. Paul, "Thrones, 
Dominions, Principalities, Powers, and every name that is 
named," is hinted the existence in the universe of these 
holy ones. To them the spectacle of rebellion must have 
been startling, but how much more so when they began to 
see the marvelous scheme of Sovereign grace to be 
wrought out by their Lord and Prince! No sooner 
had the emergency arisen, than the Son of God was upon 
the scene. They heard the voice of the Lord God walking 
in the garden in the cool of the day" (Gen. 3:8). This was 
none other than the Second Person of the Trinity, for was 
He not the Word? Then commenced the preparations for 
the great mystery of the atonement and for the death of 
Christ as the Lamb fore-ordained from before the founda- 
tion of the world. At once sacrifice was inaugurated that 
the human race might learn, and possibly that the unfallen 
Intelligences might also learn, the process by which the 
sin of the world could be met and atoned for. 

Sacrifice has in it no idea of appeasement of the wrath 
of an offended and angry God. Such an idea is not found 
in the Bible from cover to cover. That is purely heathen, 
and had crept in when human hearts had put God from 
their knowledge, and become darkened, as described in 
Rom. 1. Sacrifice was instituted to instruct in the great 
principles that sin had caused the forfeiture of life under 
the law of God and that only could the mercy of God reach 
by the substitution of one life for another. Satisfaction of 
law is a principle of government which is both divine and 
human. So the long list of sacrifices century by century 



2(5o Appendix. 

would silently but eloqently tell out the same solemn fact, 
and point to the One sacrifice for sins yet to be offered. 

In the fulness of time came the Incarnation, when the 
Son of God entered into the human race, becoming identi- 
fied with it in its condition of need and alienation. This 
fact is described in Rom. 8 : 3 as "God sending His own 
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin/' He in 
whose image man was originally made came into the human 
image of Himself, if one may be allowed the expression, in 
order to be responsible for the damage wrought by sin; in 
order to take upon Himself the Whole liability, and undergo 
anything and everything that the Government of God had 
the right to impose. He had foreseen the whole contin- 
gency. He foreknew perfectly well that nothing less than 
the death penalty awaited Him. He was not taken by sur- 
prise. He was not innocently involved in some dire and 
unexpected difficulty and doom. To Him two things were 
unspeakably dear: First, the Righteousness of God. Sec- 
ond, the race created originally in His image. He came to 
fulfill all righteousness (see Matt. 3: 15). He came out of 
love and compassion to the lost, guilty, and condemned 
world. The supreme difficulty was a governmental one. 
All pardon and mercy, if displayed, must be set above all 
possible controversy, all possible question and risk of dis- 
pute. It must be as solid and permanent as the throne of 
God. None but He knew divine requirements. None but 
He knew the measure of human guilt. None but He could 
undertake to let these two meet in His own Person. But 
offering Himself that such might be, there was no alterna- 
tive but for Him to die under the sentence of God's law, 
by whatever process that sentence might apparently be 
carried out. With What wonder and awe may not the un- 
fallen holy ones have watc'hed the carrying out of the an- 



Appendix. 261 

nouncement made to them, possibly, so long before, that 
their Lord would be the Lamb of God fore-ordained to be 
sacrificed for sin and provide Redemption. 

Pausing here for further reflection do we not see that 
when the rebellion broke out in the world, which is but 
a small speck in the vast universe, a province merely of the 
Great Empire, there were two alternatives before the mind 
of God. He might in His sovereign will and power simply 
annihilate and exterminate the rebellious province of earth, 
and for ever extinguish it with all its infection. Or, He 
might devise some scheme whereby He might reconcile 
the world unto Himself. This latter would be an act of 
sovereign grace, undeserved, unsought, unexampled, unex- 
pected, and would manifest a new and hitherto unknown 
attribute of His character. Were there no sin, there could 
be no grace. Were there no rebellion, there could be no 
reconciliation. Were there no transgression, there could be 
no pardon. Thus out of abounding sin has appeared 
abounding grace and love, which otherwise could have had 
no possible manifestation. 

O 'twas love, 'twas wondrous love, 

The love of God to me; 
It brought my Saviour from above 
To die on Calvary- 
It is to the infinite glory of God that He should thus 
seek to reconcile the world unto Himself by the death of 
His Son. Under such circumstances there can be no fault 
found with the morality of the Just One dying for the un- 
just ones, that He might bring them to God. 

Christ came. He lived the life of absolute sinlessness 
on earth, proving that He knew and loved the law of God. 
He fulfilled all its demands and shewed how to love the 



262 Appendix. 

Lord God with all the heart and all the soul, and all the 
mind, and all the strength, and 'his neighbor as ihimself. 
Then was the heaven opened over His head on the Mount 
of Transfiguration, and the voice was heard: "This is my 
beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." The glory of 
His home streamed down upon Him and through Him; and 
it was as though the doors were flung open, and He invited 
to ascend there and then, and return to the bosom of the 
Father. But bad He done so, He could •have taken no one 
with Him. Moses and Elijah must be ever left behind. 
Peter, James and John, representative of all believers sub- 
sequently, must also be left behind. He would not thus 
depart, but conversed with Moses and Elijah of the other 
exodus, the other way by which He would leave tbe world. 
From another mountain top there would be another exit. 

There is a green hill far away 

Without a city wall; 
Where the dear Lord was crucified 

Who died to save us all. 

HIS OWN DESCRIPTION OF HIS DEATH. 

In John 10: 17, 18, we find these words of His: "There- 
fore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life 
that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but 
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and 
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I 
received of my Father." How snail these words be under- 
stood? Do they not emphasize all that 'has been already 
said concerning the governmental side of the Death? Men 
did not put Him to death. They were allowed to display 
all the hatred and malice that the human heart was capable 
of, and thought that they had complete power over the de- 
fenceless, helpless One. But as a matter of fact that was 



Appendix. 263 

not so. He laid down His life under the will of God, for 
the carrying out of the counsel entered into with God, and 
in order to fulfill the claims of the law against law-break- 
ers and thus make a way for the mercy of God to reach and 
touch. In Matt. 27 : 50 a remarkable expression confirms 
this. In our English version runs the verse : "Jesus cried 
again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit." This 
last expression may be more properly rendered. "Dismissed 
his spirit.'' Some one has put it, "Commanded his spirit to 
depart." It accords accurately with His own statement, 
and points out again the mystery of the life given up and 
poured forth in agreement with, and fulfilment of, the 
original purpose. It disproves absolutely the idea that He 
died from natural causes ; or that He fell a martyr to His 
opinions; or that He could not help Himself; or that His 
death was some unpreventable remarkable manifestation of 
love. If it was only this, then it was sheer waste of a 
precious life, for if He could have saved Himself, and did 
not, where is the revelation of love? Who is benefited if 
that is all? Neither was it an example for others to fol- 
low, for no other can die under divine wrath as He did. 
There is but one solution to the mystery. He gave up His 
life to the law of God for the expiation of sin, for the re- 
demption of the World ; to shield all who believe in Him 
from the possibility of death as the result of rebellion 
against the law of God. 

At the Cross four predicted requirements were fulfilled. 

First — The Death must be by the pouring out of the 
Blood. The blood is the Life. Life has been forfeited 
under the law. There must be irrefragable proof that life 
has been taken, and this is only possible when the blood has 
been poured out from the body. 



264 Appendix. 

Second — No bone must be broken. By stoning, by 
throwing Him over the brow of the Nazareth hill, bones 
would have been broken. Not so upon the cross. 

Third 1 — He must be lifted up between heaven and earth. 
Only upon a cross would this be possible with the other two 
requirements. 

Fourth — He must die under the curse of God. Only one 
death involved a man in this. "Cursed be every one that 
hangeth on a tree." Thus and thus only could the four 
predicted requirements be accomplished. 

Once more — What met Him when put to death? 

First — He bore the sin of the world. As Isa. 53 de- 
scribes it: "He bare our iniquities." "He bare the sin of 
many." "He bare our griefs and carried our sorrows." 

Second — He was made the Guilt Offering. Made so by 
God and accepted as such (Is. 53:10). 

Third — He was "made sin" (see 2 Cor. 6:21). It was 
as if He were guilty of all the sin that had ever been 
committed in the world. He was "made" it! And sin is 
the abominable thing that God hates. He was then hidden 
from the Father, and cried out, "My God, my God, why 
hast thou forsaken me ?" 

Fourth — The wrath of God fell upon Him. He sank in 
the deep waters; all the floods and billows passed over 
Him. 

Fifth — He was then tempted by sin. Again and again 
was the suggestion flung at Him, "If thou be the Christ, 
save thyself and come down from the cross." Could He? 
Yes, He could have done so as the Son of God, mighty 
and sovereign. But it were impossible not to do the will of 
God, not to obey the command to lay down His life and 
take it again. 



Appendix. 265 

Sixth — Human hatred was launched against Him, and 
had its manifestation of awful hatred and bitterness and 
irrational exhibition. "They hated me without cause.'' 

Seventh — Satanic malice did its worst and utmost 
against Him. What a culmination of sin and hostility and 
wrath was at the cross ! 

The true preaching of the Cross will explain how it is 
that the sinner can be reconciled to God by the death of 
His Son, not God reconciled to the sinner, for God has 
never been unreconciled, but has ever been seeking and 
loving the lost. 



Table showing the use of 



That it might be 

fulfilled 

or 

Then was fulfilled. 



Pentateuc 



2:15 

2:18 

4:14 

8:17 

12:18-21 
13:14, 15 
13:35 
21:4 
26:54, 56 



It is written 



It hath been said to 
them of old time. 



2:5 

4:4 

4:6 

4:7 

4:10 

5:21 

5:27 

5:31 

5:33 

5:38 

5:43 

11 :io 

21:13 

26:31 



Have ye not read? 



12:3, 4 

12:5 

19:4 

19:5 

21:16 

21 :42 

22:31 



Quotation. 



3-3 
9:13 
15:4 
15:4 
15:7,8 
19:7 
19:18 
21:9 
22:24 
22:37 
22:39 
22:44 
23:39 



1 '.27 
2:24 



20:13 
20:14 



20:9-11 



3:6 |. 



Allusion. 



6:29 
8:4 
t 1 :i4 

II '.22 

12:40 

12:41 

12:42 

15:13 

16:4 

17:10, 11 I 

23:35 

24:15 

24:28 

24:37-39 

26:15 

26:34, 35 I 

26:46 

27:24 



4:8 



6:22 



20:12-16 



•>:9 I- 



3:1 



•3:7 1 

-. . . . I . 
•....I. 
...... 



20:12 I . . . ' 

\.. 2 .vz !(■■:■ 



4:5 



4:5 



Table showing 


the 


use 


of Old T 


estament in 


construction ol 


Gospel by Matthew 




That it might be 
fulfilled 

Then was fulfilled. 




Pentateuch. 


HtSTOEtCAL. 


POETICAL. 


PKOPHETtCAL. 


..,. 


G0„. 


E, 




»». 


Oeu, 


lL. 


"i~ 


CbroJ 


Job 


p, 


... 




Dan. 


1 


Mi, 


:..L 


/.!!„ 


t 


2:15 
a&M, 56 
















1!: 


■ ■ ' 78-2' 


li 


3 1 : ■ 5 







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..'.'.'.'.'.'.|'.'.'.'.'.'..'. '.'..■.'.'..'. :::::::: 






::::! 








::;::: ;;:::::: 




;::: :::: 




9-9 




them of old time. 


B 

5:21 
5:31 

5:38 

21:13 







.'.'..'.'.'.'.'i.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'l 8:3' 






;;;;l 
















5:2 






9i:n, 12 




















:: - '": - | 


6i! 3 




























| 


























2 o : :.4 
































:::::::: :::::::: ':::: 






















































^ 2 








| 


















V:V 






........ 


















:::::::: 








•."•.•. •.•.•.(' "23:6' 










40:3 














1 : 






f 






















::::::::!:::::::: 








53:1 &c.| 1 |....|....|....|....| 13:7 






Have ye not read? 


22:31 


| 


20:9-11 




rtiftii'l:::::::: 






::::| 





























1 










" " 8':i' 
n8:22 






















I 










28:16 
















3:6 








.... 












!•••• 


Quotation. 


3:3 







1 ! 






1 






40.3 
































■"ii-lj' 


::::;::::::::: 




























2 ":'::! 6 . 
















' 118:26' 














"ig-is' 




6:5 










I'lV'j'. 














— 


15:13 
23:3s' 
24:37-39 


4:8 












'.'.'.'.'.'. 




11 

! 




v;! 






§ 


::":: 


':::: 


3:5 


:::::: 

:::::: 


« s 



NOV 9 1905 



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